


Rise and Shine!

by blue_deer (Killerguppy)



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Comedy, Demons, Fantasy, M/M, Romance, Seven Deadly Sins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-03-02 05:10:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 47,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18804373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Killerguppy/pseuds/blue_deer
Summary: The Great Princes find themselves unceremoniously kicked out of hell and forced to live in the human realm after failing an important mission. However, they didn't quite expect to get as close to the lowly creatures as they actually do when they come face to face with their new housemates...Or, to say it in Wrath's poetic words:"What the f*ck is this?!"





	1. Chapter I

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fic featuring Seventeen as the Seven Deadly Sins (and their not quite as demonic housemates).
> 
> Pride: excessive view of one's self without regard to others  
> Wrath: uncontrollable feelings of anger towards another person  
> Envy: the desire to have an item or experience that someone else possesses  
> Gluttony: excessive ongoing consumption of food or drink  
> Greed: excessive pursuit of material possessions  
> Sloth: excessive laziness or the failure to act and utilize one’s talents  
> Lust: uncontrollable passion or longing, especially for sexual desires
> 
>    
> There will be (a lot of) swearing and some smut. But I'll mark the chapters containing smut as "Lust" so you can skip them in case you're uncomfortable :)

 

 

The heavy iron door crashed against the wall when Wrath walked through. He was livid. If he could, he would destroy everything around him right at that very moment - but that would probably prolong his punishment and, as much as he itched to do it regardless, he knew better than to anger Satan any further.

"It's all that idiot duo's fault," he muttered irritably. "Why do I have to work with incompetent fools?!" Ramming his fist against the wall, he let out some of his anger, leaving behind fissures in the dark stone.

"Now, now. Leave the poor wall alone," sounded a soothingly deep voice behind him.

Wrath turned around, scowl still present but shoulders slightly more relaxed, to acknowledge the oldest of the Great Princes with a nod. "Pride. Well, now what? How do we get out of this god damn situation?"

Black silk and shiny silver only enhanced Pride's imposing aura. He ran his fingers through his black hair and heaved a low sigh before he replied, annoyance painting his features, "You know that there's no way to change his mind once he decides on something. And their failure really angered him this time."

Looking at the elder with narrowed eyes, Wrath couldn't help but correct him. " _Our_ failure. We're a team - as much as I hate to admit that. The idiot duo fucked up, but you are still our leader so you'll have to take responsibility too." He knew what kind of reaction would come after his blunt words and, indeed, it only took a split second for Pride's face to darken considerably.

"And who are you to talk back to me?" the elder snarled, his voice low and dangerous.

Wrath raised an unimpressed eyebrow at the seething demon in front of him. "Just your closest companion since forever. Get over yourself; you know that your intimidation tactics don't work on me," he said in a bored tone.

"Hm. Good point, I guess." A smile tugged at the corner of Pride's mouth. The elder wasn't a forgiving person but Wrath knew exactly just how far he could go when it came to him - and how to calm him down after getting provoked. "Oh well, whatever. Come on now, we need to have an emergency meeting." Wrath rolled his eyes when Pride abruptly dropped the topic and began to pull him along towards their quarters.

 

Although they all held the rank of 'Great Princes of Hell', they were not related in any way, but they had known each other since the days they had been created. Consequently, they had worked together for centuries by now and the demons were as close and (in Wrath's opinion) annoying as real siblings. Despite all the fights and banter between them, the six Princes were a pretty good team, respected even by the higher ranking demons for bringing destruction to wherever they went.

 

Arriving at the main room of their wing, Wrath and Pride found the other group members lounging around. Gluttony was sitting on the sofa and munching on jerky, his leather jacket dusted with crumbs from whatever he had eaten before, while Sloth was dozing with his head on Gluttony's lap, his blond hair shimmering in the candlelight of the candelabras. Greed and Envy were whispering in the corner and Wrath eyed them distrustfully. "What are you planning _now_? You've already caused enough mayhem during the mission. Urgh, just thinking about it makes me want to skin you alive."

The copious amount of jewellery adorning Greed's tall figure glittered as he shifted towards Wrath's much smaller form. His already handsome face became even more stunning when he smirked at the comment. "Come on now, we couldn't just leave those little gemstones lying around like that. Who knows what the rebels would've bought with them? We only did it for the greater good."

"Those gems were too pretty for ugly vermin like them anyway," Envy supplied helpfully, his cheeks puffed out at the thought of someone else taking his treasure away, making his already round face look even rounder.

Wrath scowled. "We got noticed because of you idiots! We could've gotten rid of those lowlifes in one blow otherwise."

"Well, I can't help myself. When I see something nice, I just have to take it. Satan knows that just as well as you do." Greed shrugged, completely unapologetic.

"Enough. We can't change the past so arguing about it is useless," Pride intervened. "But if one of you dares to go against my orders ever again _you will regret it_ ," he ended with a dark look, fiery red flashing in his eyes.

The room fell silent when his oppressing presence grew stronger at his anger. Nobody dared to break it. Even Gluttony stopped chewing for a moment.

Pride took a deep breath before he continued speaking. "Anyway, we have to prepare for our punishment. We'll stay in the human realm until Satan decides that he's ready to forgive us - which might take a few decades. He'll also take our abilities away so we'll have to blend in with the humans in order to survive. The only good part is that we already have a place to stay since an acquaintance of mine owns some houses there." Another long silence followed his words, this time more contemplative than fearful.

"Eh, let's start with the basics then," Greed finally said. "We can't just walk around calling each other 'Gluttony' or 'Sloth' when we're supposed to blend in. Does anyone remember their original name?"

The atmosphere turned awkward at once.

"Maybe we could look them up in the registry?" Gluttony reluctantly suggested.

"It's already the 61st hour, we're supposed to be gone by the 63rd. We don't have time to go through all those books," an annoyed Wrath replied.

"I think my name starts with J," Sloth mumbled, sleep already lacing his voice from thinking too hard.

"Of course you'd be the one to remember with that mighty brain of yours," Envy said sourly, prompting Sloth to open his mouth in indignation.

Pride stepped in before another fight could break out. "All right, everyone. Let's try a different approach." After all eyes had focused back on him, he walked over to a bookshelf and picked a book at random. Thumbing through the pages, he pointed at Gluttony. "Your name will be Kwon Soonyoung." The demon grinned and gave a thumbs up.

"I'll be Choi Seungcheol and Wrath, your name will be Lee Jihoon."

Wrath immediately frowned. "What kind of name is that? I'm Wrath, goddamnit, how can I have such a wimpy name?"

"Accept it or I'll pick one for girls," Pride growled. Wrath wisely decided to shut up.

"Sloth, since you said that your original name starts with J, you will be Yoon Jeonghan." Sloth only nodded, eyes already closed again.

"Greed, your name will be Kim Mingyu."

"That's not too bad, I guess," Greed said with a smile.

Pointing at Envy, Pride decided on the name Park Jin.

"Why is my name the only name with one syllable? Doesn't that make it feel a bit awkward compared to the rest? And Sloth's name sounds much prettier. Pick another one."

Rolling his eyes, Pride opened the book again. "Boo Seungkwan, then."

"But-"

"ACCEPT THE DAMN NAME!" Wrath exploded, exuding such a killing intent that it ended the argument in milliseconds and startled Sloth awake.

 

After packing some necessities - Pride had to force Greed to leave most of his possessions behind; two big pieces of luggage were more than enough - they gathered in front of the throne room. Even the usually calm Sloth was slightly nervous now, twiddling with his shirt in silence. Gluttony was biting his nails so hard that it looked like he was eating his fingers until Envy pulled them out of his mouth with a look of disgust.

As the leader, Pride felt that it was his duty to step forward first, knocking on the heavily ornamented doors before pulling them open.

Regardless of how often he had visited the throne room, it still managed to impress him. Completely made out of smooth, glistening stones in the colour of freshly spilt blood, it stretched much further than it should be possible, the walls barely visible through the shadows cast by thousands of black candles scattered in noble silver chandeliers all over the room. The throne in the middle was made out of black material that seemed weirdly inconsistent. Sometimes it looked like wavering black smoke, only to morph into some sort of dry liquid in the blink of an eye.

But the throne room itself was nothing compared to the being sitting on said throne. In front of Pride sat Satan, the devil, the demon who had created him and the five demons behind him and who therefore was also able to destroy them with a simple gesture of his hand. The top half of his face was hidden behind a veil, leaving only his mouth and sharp jawline visible. The rest of his body was clad in white silk garments, a stark contrast to the rest of the room. The power radiating off him made it difficult to breathe.

Pride swallowed the lump in his throat and bowed deeply. "Master, we are here to receive our punishment."

"Stand before me. I want to look at the faces of you, who have failed me," Satan ordered, a lighthearted smile playing on his pale lips.

Unsettled, the six demons lined up in front of the throne, not daring to lift their heads.

"Unleash your wings, my dear princes." As soon as the dark-feathered wings adorned their backs, Satan's smile grew wider, rows of sharp teeth shimmering in the candlelight. "You won't need them anymore. Have a safe journey."

With a flick of his wrist, indescribable pain began to spread through their backs, their wings withering and breaking. Not able to prevent themselves from screaming, they fell to the floor and curled into each other, sobbing and begging, until their consciousness faded away.


	2. Chapter II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small recap:  
> Pride - S.Coups/Seungcheol  
> Wrath - Woozi/Jihoon  
> Greed - Mingyu  
> Gluttony - Hoshi/Soonyoung  
> Sloth - Jeonghan  
> Envy - Seungkwan
> 
> Their actual names will be used starting next chapter. Also, for the sake of storytelling, I'll just assume that the demons have some basic knowledge about the modern human world already (Mingyu and Seungkwan more than the rest, as it's in their nature to be interested in others' belongings).

  
Rain dripped on Wrath's face, ripping him out of his jumbled dreams rather abruptly. Blinking the haze away, he found himself in a dark and foul-smelling alleyway - clearly in the human realm. Someone groaned beneath him.

"Would you mind moving your fat ass?" Envy asked groggily, eyes still closed.

While Wrath climbed to his feet - decidedly ignoring Envy's outstretched hand - he took note of the other dark figures sprawled on the dirty cobblestones. Greed and Pride were already sitting upright while Sloth and Gluttony were still knocked out, clinging to each other.

Although, maybe Sloth had simply fallen asleep. He had the habit of sleeping in weird places.

While Greed and Envy were busy shaking the life back into the two demons, Pride walked up to Wrath, slinging an arm around his shoulders. "So, now what?" Wrath asked while unsuccessfully trying to get rid of the offending arm.

"Well, we'll have to find the address of the house I was talking about."

After the third attempt, Wrath gave up and decided to accept his fate, ignoring Pride's smug expression. "And how do we do that?"

"Our best bet would be to ask some humans, I guess," replied the elder after a moment of contemplation. His reluctance became obvious in the way his brows knitted together. Asking someone for help was beneath him - but maybe he could bear it as long as it was just getting a few pointers to find the right way.

"So you have no idea where we actually _are_?" Greed questioned somewhat incredulous from behind while propping up a staggering Gluttony.

Pride scowled and let go of Wrath. "I've been to the human world plenty of times before. I'm basically an expert so we'll be fine. Now shut your trap and let's go." With that order, he turned to lead the way out of the alley.

 

" _I'm basically an expert_ ," Envy repeated in a mocking tone. "Great job Mister Human-Expert-Leader. We are now officially completely lost."

After leaving the alley, they had walked around for what felt like hours in the light drizzle that had not stopped falling from the sky. All of them were thoroughly soaked and the mood had hit rock-bottom. The only lead they had was the wet paper on which Pride had scribbled the address in his illegible handwriting. However, after his earlier grand declaration, he had been too stuck up to actually approach a human. Sloth had proposed to take a cab but Greed - the only demon with valuable possessions from the human realm - had strongly refused to spend his gold on something as trivial as transportation.

Wrath felt his eye twitch when Gluttony began to loudly complain about being hungry, cold and wet. He had held himself back all this time, restraining himself from lashing out at the others, but he was close, so, _so,_ **so** close to bursting. Taking a deep breath, he stopped walking. "This is useless. Give me the damn paper." After snatching it out of Pride's hand, he forced a smile on his face and approached a young human couple waiting at a bus stop.

The other demons looked on from a respectful distance. "Will he be okay?" Gluttony asked, fidgeting nervously. "He looks a bit stressed."

Pride was watching the couple with narrowed eyes. "Let's hope he doesn't cause a scene."

"Too late," Sloth sighed when the woman started screaming at her partner, hitting him with her purse.

Wrath returned with a smug smile playing on his lips. His bad mood had visibly improved. "Guess who knows the way to our house?"

"What did you do to those people, Wrath?" Pride asked sternly.

"Nothing, really," he replied, feigning innocence. "Seems like we still have some sort of influence on humans when we don't control our emotions. They just randomly started fighting once I got closer. Anyway, they told me that we just have to follow this street here and then turn left at the sixth crossing."

"Ha! So we _are_ pretty close! Didn't I tell you I would find the way? You ungrateful pricks," Pride gloated while the others rolled their eyes in unison.

"Let's just go. I want to lie down," Sloth mumbled, leaning heavily on Greed's shoulder, eyes only half open.

 

In pairs, they walked alongside the street in the fading daylight. They passed several stores and food stalls, feeling their stomachs rumble at the delicious smells wafting through the air.

"Where's Gluttony?" Greed suddenly asked.

Turning around, Pride and Wrath eyed the remaining demons. "Wasn't he walking with you, Envy?" Pride probed.

"Uh... I might have gotten a little distracted by all those humans and their nice clothes," he admitted, throwing a pointed glare towards a handsome, foreign-looking male clad in a business suit.

Suddenly loud noise was heard from a market hall not too far behind the five demons. They shared an unsettled look before they ran towards the commotion. As soon as they were able to get a glimpse inside the market hall, they stopped at the absurd sight in front of them. "What the hell is going on here?" Wrath whispered, gaping.

The inside was filled with market stands, selling everything from already cooked food to ingredients to everyday necessities. There were quite a lot of humans gathered and the air was saturated with a medley of smells and sounds. Though, at this moment most of the sounds were composed of screaming. The market looked much less orderly than it should and more like an active war zone. Humans were rolling on the floor, fighting over the food that had fallen down, presumably after they had attacked the food stalls. Other humans were sprawled in the middle of the shelves showcasing fruits and vegetables, eating everything in their reach, while the shop-owners were too busy stuffing their faces with their own wares to stop them.

It was complete and utter chaos - and in the middle of it all sat Gluttony, happily munching on what looked like a massive stack of Kimchi pancakes.

"God damn it, so much for blending in," Wrath grumbled, striding towards the demon to pull him away. However, he was too small to properly move through the masses of onlookers which angered him even further. Soon, the formerly calm people around him started arguing and shoving each other.

While Sloth was taking shelter and a nap on one of the benches close to the exit, Greed weaved through the momentarily abandoned stalls with a content smile, picking up everything that looked like it might have some sort of value. Pride rubbed his temples in irritation and instructed Envy to grab Gluttony ("Why is he the only one having fun? That's so unfair!") while he worked on rescuing Wrath from getting squished and possibly committing mass murder. After extracting the two demons from the chaos, they made a run for it - albeit with a bit of reluctance on Sloth's part.

Both Gluttony and Greed looked incredibly satisfied after stopping a few minutes later.

"That was highly unnecessary," Wrath seethed, only held back by Pride's hands on his shoulders.

Gluttony smiled guiltily. "Sorry, I was just so hungry... But look, I brought enough Kimchi pancakes for all of us!"

 

After eating the surprisingly good pancakes, they continued on their way towards the house. By now, Sloth was sleeping on Greed's back while Envy shot them jealous glances, busying himself with window shopping. Gluttony was still nibbling on the last few bites and - fully energized - kept jumping around the pair while talking nonstop. Pride and Wrath kept to themselves at the front, comfortable silence filling the air between the two demons.

Stopping at the sixth crossing, they waited for the rest to catch up. "It should be to the left somewhere, probably a few more meters in. Keep an eye out for house number seventeen, that's ours," Pride said in his usual leader-tone.

Envy pulled a face behind his back and smiled his most innocent smile as soon as Pride turned in his direction. "Okay, let's go!"

 

Walking past numbers one to sixteen, they stopped in front of number seventeen: a pretty, medium-sized two-story house with a little porch.

"Why are the lights one?" Gluttony asked warily.

"Maybe my acquaintance left them on; he said he'd deliver our luggage," Pride dismissed his concerns without a second thought. Fumbling to retrieve the key from his pocket, he walked towards the entrance. The other demons crowded around him while he tried to insert the key in the lock, all of them eager to get out of the rain and into the warmth of the house.

The lock finally clicked satisfyingly, but before they could even touch the door, it had already swung open - and the six demons came face to face with an angel.

 


	3. Chapter III

 

Everyone froze for a few awestruck seconds. The angelic being smiled and the demons could feel their hearts lurching - which was scary, considering that most of them were not even sure whether they had a heart in the first place.

"You must be the new housemates," the pretty male said in a melodic voice. "Please come in. My name is Hong Jisoo, it's nice to meet you." He kept smiling brightly, waiting for them to react.

Pride shook off his stupor first and cleared his throat. Twice. "Nice to meet you too, my name is Pr- Seungcheol. Choi Seungcheol. Are you the housekeeper?"

Now it was Jisoo's turn to look confused. "Housekeeper? No, I'm one of the tenants-"

"Hold on. What do you mean, 'tenants'?" Wrath interrupted at once.

"Uhm... Didn't the landlord tell you? There's seven of us currently living here. Including you, we will be thirteen people," Jisoo explained. Seeing the incredulous (and dangerously darkening) look on Wrath's face, he hastily added, "But we have quite a lot of space, so it won't be a problem. Don't worry!"

Wrath turned to Pride, who was still gaping at Jisoo after the grand revelation. "Did. You. Know. About. This?!" he asked him with very forced-sounding calmness.

"I didn't! That bas- uhm, I mean, the landlord never told me anything about hum- other people living here!" Pride defended himself immediately.

Silence descended over the demons crowded on the small porch. After a moment, Jisoo chuckled uneasily. "Well, how about you come in first and change into dry clothes? Your luggage has already arrived in the morning."

Nodding, Pride gave the signal to move forward, stepping into the warmth of their new home.

 

Jisoo warily examined the strangers walking past him. They were all dressed completely in black, complimenting nicely with their pale complexions. Their clothes seemed rather fancy but were now soaked by the rain. He could make out a lot of leather and something that looked suspiciously like silk. They also seemed to have a thing for silver jewellery.

The one with the natural aura of a leader, who apparently was called Seungcheol, was followed by the scowling petite male, who had so rudely interrupted him earlier. Next came a rather young looking boy with sharply slanted eyes, whose cheeks were painted with splatters of reddish sauce - but at least he was grinning brightly. The next one had a pretty, round face, but the gaze he shot him was nearly as bone-chilling as the one from the smaller male earlier. The last two people were an odd pair: a tall and very handsome guy with suspiciously bulging jacket pockets and, on his back, a seemingly unconscious person with long-ish, blond hair that obscured his face.

"Is he okay?" Jisoo asked the handsome stranger worriedly.

"He's just a bit tired," the other answered with a charming smile. "My name is Kim Mingyu by the way, and the one on my back is Yoon Jeonghan. Don't mind Mr Grumpypants over there, that's Jihoon. He's always like that."

Jisoo followed the group inside with the thought that they might not be as bad as their first impression had suggested.

 

After the demons had taken off their shoes, Jisoo led them to their luggage. "Do you want to change in the bathroom or should I show you your rooms directly?" he asked.

"Bathroom will be enough. We should probably meet the other hu- tenants first before officially moving in," Pride decided.

After some squabbling about who could use the bathroom first (Envy successfully asserted his dominance), the finally dry demons gathered in the well-furnished living room. Sitting on the cream-coloured sofa, they waited for Jisoo to arrive with the other humans.

"Everything's so bright. And look at that TV, I've never had something like that at home," Envy couldn't help but complain.

"Why would you need a TV anyway? It's not like you can actually watch anything in hell," Gluttony asked confused.

"It's not about using it but about having it, Gluttony. I totally understand Envy's feelings," Greed said while eyeing the TV and games console hungrily.

"You better start using your human names now; we don't want to get overheard," Pride whispered.

Footsteps on the stairs alerted them and the demons grew quiet. Envy shook Sloth to wake him up, getting a tired groan in response.

 

Jisoo walked in first with his usual bright smile, followed by six other people.

Wrath felt Greed next to him stiffen. A sudden strong urge to _possess_ overcame him. He glanced at the demon and noticed that Greed was intently focused on the last human who had entered the room. Leaning towards him, Wrath hissed, "Get your damn emotions under control, you're letting your power run wild. If you don't stop, the humans will go crazy in a few seconds."

Greed jumped slightly and broke eye contact with the stranger. Taking deep breaths, he tried to control himself. He had never in his whole existence felt the urge to _own_ something as strongly as he felt it towards that one male with the dark brown locks and sharp eyes. He hadn't even known that it was possible to feel greed towards actual living humans.

His wild thoughts were interrupted by a lanky guy, who stepped in front of the others with a smile so wide it showed all of his teeth.

"Hello everyone, my name is Seokmin! I've been living here the longest; I think it's been around five years now. I'm a university student, graduating in music. I love to eat and sing and I'm the best at playing Mario Kart..." He continued to talk enthusiastically until another tall person stepped forward with a charming smile, cutting him off midsentence. His hair was dyed in a weird colour somewhere between grey and brown - but it suited him surprisingly well.

"Hi, I'm Wen Junhui but call me Jun. Me and him," he pointed at the smaller human next to him, who sported light brown hair, "are exchange students from China and our Korean is still not that great. But we're working hard. We're also roommates." He and the other guy bowed once.

"Yes, hello, my name is Xu Minghao. It's nice to meet you," the light-haired one said with a little wave and a hesitant smile.

A rather young looking human took the word next. "Hi, I'm Chan, the youngest of the group! Or at least I think I am, nobody here is born after 1999, are you?" The demons all shook their heads rather vehemently which earned them a cute smile.

A foreign-looking guy stepped in front of the group.

"YOU!" All eyes turned to Envy who blushed slightly at the sudden attention.

"Do I know you?" the male asked puzzled.

"Oh, uhm, I just thought I recognized you from earlier. Do you own a suit by any chance?"

The other nodded, looking somewhat creeped out. After a few uncomfortable seconds of silence, he cleared his throat. "Right. My name is Hansol, my English name is Vernon. You can call me whatever you prefer." He hastily stepped back to make room for the last person, the one Greed was fixated on.

He stepped forward and nodded at them. "My name is Jeon Wonwoo, nice to meet you," he greeted politely but without a smile.

 

"It's nice to meet you all, my name is Choi Seungcheol. I am the oldest of this chaotic group of idiots," Pride said with a fond little smile.

"Oh really? How old are you? I'm the oldest here at the moment," Jisoo asked eagerly.

"Um... I'm born in August... 19...9..5?" Wrath shot Pride a subtle glare for taking too long to come up with the date.

"Oh then we're almost the same age, I'm born in December. So you're the oldest in the house now." Jisoo seemed unsuspecting. Letting out a relieved breath, Pride smiled and sunk back into the cushions.

"I'm Jihoon," Wrath said with a straight face. Greed nudged his side inconspicuously. "...nice to meet you."

Greed took it upon himself to lighten the mood after Wrath's frosty introduction. "Hello everyone, my name is Kim Mingyu. I like to collect all kinds of precious things in my free time. I'm looking forward to living with you." He shot the dark-eyed Wonwoo a smouldering gaze and a bright smile. Wrath made a gagging sound next to him.

Sloth was fortunately awake enough to introduce himself. He smiled his soft smile and waved slightly. "My name is Yoon Jeonghan and my biggest hobby is to sleep. Don't try to wake me up and we'll get along just fine." His smile turned somewhat menacing.

Envy rolled his eyes at Sloth's words before he focused back on the group in front of them. "Hi, I'm Seungkwan. I'm the mood-maker and I like to sing. As long as you're not better than me, we'll be good friends," he chirped happily.

The last one of the demons was the only one who actually stood up and bowed dramatically. "Hi, my name is Soonyoung. I love to dance and eat, so I do both at every possible chance I get. I'm also a pretty good cook. Please take care of me!"

"Great, thanks for the introduction. I'll show you your rooms!" Seokmin said, showing off his teeth again. "We only have double bedrooms though so you'll have to stay in pairs. Who is going to stay with whom?"

"I'll stay with Jihoon," Seungcheol's decision was instantaneous while Wrath only nodded. He knew that the other demons had problems coping with his temper and he was the closest with Pride anyway.

"Ooooh, then I want to room with Jeonghan!" Soonyoung yelled enthusiastically.

"Only if you can keep quiet at night." Sloth shot him a dark look.

"Deal!"

"Well, seems like we're the only ones left," Seungkwan said and Greed nodded somewhat hesitantly. He usually got along very well with Envy (there was a reason Wrath had dubbed them the 'idiot duo'), but he wasn't so sure about sharing a room with the other demon...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since we're done with the boring introductions, let's start with the actual story...


	4. Chapter IV

 

After storing away their luggage, the six demons held this day's second emergency meeting in Wrath's and Pride's new room.

Sloth immediately claimed Wrath's bed and cuddled up to Greed, who in turn started yawning.

"Stop it. I don't wanna sleep yet," the tall demon chided, his words already slightly slurred, while pinching Sloth's cheek.

"Sorry, I'll try to keep it in," was the mumbled response.

Gluttony and Envy were bouncing around on the second bed. "Why's your bed softer than mine? And the blanket looks prettier too... God, I hate everything about this house, especially those humans. Why are they all so good looking? And they get along too well, don't they? Not even we get along like that and we've been together for centuries," Envy rambled, an annoyed frown marring his features.

Pride ignored him and closed the door while Wrath leaned against the wall next to it. "This situation is completely fucked up. How are we supposed to live with god damn humans for the next few decades? I can hardly bear being around you idiots," the small demon grumbled.

"Eh, I think it'll be okay. They seem friendly enough," Greed said with a smile, his arms still wrapped around Sloth's waist. It was uncertain whether the blond demon resting against his chest was still awake.

Wrath shot his companion a withering look. "Stop grinning like a fool. If I hadn't held you back in the living room, you'd have jumped that dark-haired guy and stripped him in front of everybody."

Greed opened his mouth to argue but closed it shortly after. "I'm honestly not sure what happened back there. I felt so much need to just _have_ that human..." he finally admitted, his expression troubled. The other demons glanced at him worriedly.

"I think it would be better for you to stay out of that person's way, Gre- I mean, Mingyu. We need to make sure that we're in control of our emotions at all time. We can't afford to get found out so soon. And humans are fragile; we might injure or kill them by accident. Not that I'd care but since we have to live in this realm for a while, I'd rather not have a police investigation on my ass," Pride said with a shrug.

Silence reigned for a moment while everyone mulled over the leader's words, until: "Hell, am I the only one who's fucking bothered about living with humans?!" Wrath growled. Fury was burning in his eyes. "They're weak and useless. We're the Great Princes, for fuck's sake. We're _demons_! How can we possibly live with them? I'd rather suffer a few lifetimes in the ninth circle than follow the rules of some measly humans!"

At his furious words, Sloth finally opened his eyes. "Of course it's humiliating; if it was easy, it wouldn't be a punishment," he said in his usual quiet voice. "So we all need to stay calm and figure things out. Especially you, Jihoon. Don't anger Satan any further by rebelling against his decision - it'll only end badly."

There was nothing to add. They all knew that they had no other choice. Wrath knocked his head against the wall once in anger and slipped down to the floor where he remained in sulky silence.

"What about living expenses? We don't have to pay rent but Glut- uh, Soonyoung alone eats for four," Greed stated after a moment. "The humans will definitely notice if we don't buy some stuff ourselves."

"Hmm, we never had that problem in hell but I guess we'll have to work. Yes, you too," Pride said in his strictest leader-voice, frowning at Wrath who looked ready to argue once again. "How much gold and other valuables did you bring, Mingyu?"

"Hm, adding the money I collected today..." Envy snorted. "...probably around fifteen million won, if I exchange all the gold and gems," Greed finished.

"Woah," Gluttony breathed wide-eyed, "you're our man!"

"That's Greed for you," Sloth said with a small smile, snuggling even closer to him.

"But that's my hard-earned money! I never said anything about sharing with you," Greed whined at once. The thought of providing for five demons - and especially for Envy and Gluttony - caused him to pale.

"Don't be a dick. We're brothers, aren't we?" Pride asked with a winning smile.

"We're really not," Greed mumbled, but his shoulders had already deflated in defeat. He knew better than to argue with the leader.

 

Shortly after, the meeting got interrupted by a tentative knock on the door. One of the Chinese tenants from earlier appeared, his light-brown hair tucked cutely behind his ears. "I just wanted to ask if you want to have dinner with us?" he asked with a smile. At the word 'dinner', Gluttony's face lit up like a Christmas tree and he immediately tried to leave the bed. However, an angry look from Pride made him crumble back into place.

Pride turned towards Minghao with a smile of his own. "Thanks, we'll be downstairs in a minute," he said, his tone unusually polite. The human nodded before he closed the door behind him. As soon as he was gone, the leader's expression turned dangerous. Everyone tensed when his oppressing aura began to fill the room. "Soonyoung, I'm warning you now: If you dare to do anything out of the ordinary during dinner or cause another ruckus, I _will_ punish you. That includes eating more than three refills and eating anything inedible for humans."

Gluttony visibly shrank, his face falling. Envy patted his back with a sympathetic smile.

"The same goes for the rest of you. We have to appear absolutely normal to those humans. No tantrums," sharp gaze to Envy, "no stealing cutlery," sharp gaze to Greed, "no flipping tables," sharp gaze to Wrath, "and no sleeping."

The demons nodded quietly.

"Okay, wash your hands and go downstairs."

 

Greed was the first to arrive in the roomy kitchen. His eyes immediately searched for the dark-haired human - Wonwoo, if he remembered correctly - but instead they fell on Jisoo, who was so focused on tossing salad that he hadn't noticed the demon coming in. He was undeniably beautiful, delicate looking with a thin frame, big eyes and high cheekbones. Greed felt a certain pull towards him, not nearly as bad as it was with Wonwoo but it was there. Focusing on the little pout the other unconsciously sported, Greed stepped closer.

Jisoo looked up, startled by the sudden movement. A soft smile bloomed on his lips when they locked eyes. Cheerfully he asked, "Mingyu, are you here for the salad? It's almost done, just give me a second." Greed made a noncommittal sound, stepping even closer to him, while Jisoo took out a fork to taste the salad. After taking a bite, he picked up some more and held it towards Greed. "Do you want to try too? I think it needs a bit more salt."

Shaken out of his - rather impure - thoughts, Greed hastily took the bite, almost choking on it in the process. "It's good," he coughed with tears in his eyes. Taking the salad bowl with him, he fled into the living room.

Most tenants of number seventeen were already gathered when Greed stepped into the room. Wonwoo was missing, as well as Wrath and Pride, and, of course, Jisoo was still in the kitchen. The square table already looked crowded and Greed wondered how all thirteen people were supposed to fit. He carefully placed the salad in the middle and sat down next to grumpy-looking Sloth, who was trying hard not to seem tired. He could see Gluttony on the demon's other side, clamping his hands together in his lap to prevent himself from reaching for the salad. Fortunately, he was getting distracted by Seokmin, who sat next to him and had started a conversation about his favourite bands.

Pride and Wrath entered the room together, squeezing in next to Jun, across from Greed. Pride shot warning looks at the demons before he got distracted by Chan, who happily told him every single detail about his college entrance exams. It only took a few minutes until Wrath looked like he wanted to throw his plate at the youngest member of the household, but he composed himself after Greed had kicked his chair with his long legs. Finally, the last two tenants arrived, each carrying big bowls of meat and mashed potatoes. There were only two seats left: One next to Minghao, quite far off, and one almost next to Greed, across the corner of the table. His heart rate increased drastically when Wonwoo walked in his direction.

Their knees almost touched when Wonwoo sat down - a fact Greed was hyperaware of.

"Let's eat!" Jisoo as the (formerly) oldest announced, starting to hand out food.

 

Staying calm was hard for Greed in close proximity to his target. After taking a few bites, he decided that he should try having a conversation with Wonwoo - but he couldn't think of anything intelligent to say. "The food is good," he finally stated lamely.

Wonwoo looked up from his plate and Greed's heart jumped again at the eye contact. "Yeah," was all he got in return.

"Did you cook it?"

"No."

Greed suddenly understood Wrath's tendency to throw things when he got annoyed. It sounded really tempting right now. He angrily poked his potatoes with his fork.

"We have a schedule for cooking. My turn is Tuesdays. But we might need to reschedule now with your arrival," Wonwoo suddenly explained. "Your name is Mingyu, right?"

Greed looked up so fast, he nearly sprained his neck. A small smile was playing around the corners of Wonwoo's mouth while he calmly returned his startled gaze.

"Yes! Correct! Mingyu, that's me!" the demon exclaimed, far too loud in his excitement. Flushing pink, he glanced around the table, noticing the lifted eyebrows and grins of the others. "Sorry," he whispered sheepishly. When everyone had turned back to their food, he faced Wonwoo's amused expression again.

"You're interesting. Maybe we can be on cooking duty together?"

Greed felt somewhat faint after that proposal.

 

Jisoo dismissed the new tenants after dinner, telling them that they should rest first and that they would talk about any upcoming duties in the morning.

Returning to their room, Wrath let himself fall flat on his bed. "Urgh, that was terrible. How could you stand the chitchat of that child for so long? I would've freaked out after three minutes."

"Two, probably. It wasn't that bad; you just need to learn how to bear it. After enduring Seungkwan and Soonyoung for centuries, I'm almost completely immune now. But hey, at least the food was acceptable," Pride said while taking off his jacket. He sat on Wrath's bed, tousling the other's hair.

Wrath swatted his hand away. "Stop it. I'm tired."

"Aw, my little prince is always so moody," the leader teased, this time lightly pulling on the black strands.

"Fuck off," Wrath replied, but a small smile was pulling on his lips. Pride winked, rose from the bed and left to take a shower.


	5. Lust I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a rated M chapter (all the other Lust chapters will be as well).  
> If you're uncomfortable with sexual content, please skip it. :)

 

Minghao could feel his roommate watching him.

"What are you reading?" Jun asked in Chinese.

"Alice in Wonderland," he answered without looking up. "It's pretty good."

"Oh, I've never read that before. Mind if I read with you? I finished all my books."

Minghao shot his roommate a puzzled look. They were pretty close since they were the only Chinese tenants in the house - but close enough to read a book together? And he was already in the middle of chapter five. But if Jun really wanted... oh well. "Sure," he said, shuffling over a little to make some space on his bed. Jun didn't hesitate to lie down next to him, both stretched out on their stomachs, book leaned against the pillow.

Silence descended. But, weirdly enough, Minghao now had a hard time focusing on the story. Somehow, the male he had shared a room with for over a year had become really distracting all of the sudden. He peeked at the other out of the corners of his eyes. Jun's hair looked nice, he noted, smooth and soft. He liked the colour even though it was somewhat unusual. His dark eyes were focused on the page, a concentrated frown furrowing his brows.

_He has really pretty lips. I wonder what they feel like._

Minghao immediately wanted to smack himself for thinking something like that - about another guy. His roommate, to make matters worse.

Jun suddenly shifted his gaze and caught his stare. As fast as he could, Minghao averted his eyes, heat crawling up his neck. He was sure that his ears were already bright red. Fortunately, his roommate didn't seem to notice his odd behaviour. "Did you finish reading?"

"Yeah," Minghao squeaked somewhat breathlessly.

Jun turned the page and they fell silent once again. After a few seconds, Minghao dared to steal another glance. To his immense embarrassment, he found Jun's dark eyes already focused on his face instead of the book. He tried to look away but couldn't, his gaze trapped.

"Am I _that_ interesting?" Jun asked, a smirk curling his lips.

"I- I... sorry. I didn't mean to bother you," Minghao stuttered. He could only hope that his long bangs would somehow hide his flushed cheeks.

"Well, I wouldn't call it a bother... but I gotta admit that you _are_ a bit distracting." Jun leaned closer. His breath fanned over Minghao's face when he whispered, "You smell really nice."

Minghao was pretty sure that he resembled an overripe cherry by now. Looking down, he flinched when long fingers tucked a strand of hair behind his ear.

"Don't be so nervous," Jun purred. "I'm not going to hurt you. Trust me."

Slowly, Minghao nodded, not entirely sure what he was agreeing to. Before he could freak out completely, Jun's lips met his.

His heart stuttered, only to start beating at double-speed. On reflex, he closed his eyes, savouring the feeling of soft lips moving against his. Deep in the back of his mind, he wondered why it felt so good to kiss a guy - his experience so far had only included girls. One, to be exact. The thoughts about his ex-girlfriend were immediately pushed aside when Jun's tongue slipped inside his mouth. He could feel him exploring it, lightly flicking Minghao's tongue to get him to play along. Feeling his face burn - a burn that seemed to trail down his whole body - he tried to imitate the skilful movements, eventually even lightly sucking on his roommate's lips.

Jun's low hum ran like electricity through Minghao's body. He hazily noted that his favourite sweatpants had grown awfully tight over the last few minutes.

Carefully pushing Minghao's shoulder, Jun moved him to lie on his back, breaking the contact between their lips. He smiled at the younger while he caressed his face. The other hand trailed lightly over Minghao's clothed chest. "You don't have much experience, do you?"

His words made Minghao's cheeks burn even brighter. Was it really that obvious? "J-just kissing so far..." he mumbled, ready to bury himself in a hole.

Jun didn't look deterred in the slightest, though. Instead, he smiled softly, almost lovingly, his low voice even quieter when he asked, "Wanna go a bit further?"

Minghao could only nod.

After getting his approval, Jun got up and straddled his hips. Minghao could feel his erection press against his roommate's ass, and the thought was so shameful and exciting that he hid his face behind his hands. Jun, of course, noticed and gently pulled them away. "Don't be shy," he cooed. "Let me take that off for you."

He pulled off the younger's loose t-shirt, exposing the slightly flushed skin of his chest and stomach. Minghao held his breath when Jun bent down, the elder's hands caressing his abs, leaving goosebumps in their wake. The moment Jun's lips came in contact with Minghao's collarbone was the moment he finally gasped for air. The pressure on his erection, combined with the feeling of hot lips and soft fingers on his skin was almost overwhelming. When Jun started sucking, he couldn't stop himself from releasing a needy groan. In response, his roommate only sucked harder, moving his hips in a way that provided heavenly friction.

Moving in between Minghao's legs brought Jun a whine at the sudden loss of contact, but he distracted the younger by working his way down from Minghao's collarbone to his bellybutton with kisses and nibs. Minghao was panting by now, a light sheen of sweat making his skin glimmer in the light of the bedroom. Jun hooked his fingers into the sweatpants that separated him from the younger's member, never breaking eye contact while doing so. Carefully he pulled them down, together with the underwear, releasing Minghao's sensitive erection.

Minghao closed his eyes in nervous embarrassment and anticipation when he felt Jun's breath on the area of his body that nobody but he himself had touched before. His body jerked when fingers wrapped around the base of his dick, slightly longer and much more gentle than his own. Before he could relish in the feeling, something hot and incredibly soft came in contact with his member. His eyes shot open to find Jun circling his tongue around the tip of his erection, watching Minghao's reaction with a hungry gaze. Seeing that the younger had opened his eyes again, he sent him a little smirk before he engulfed his cock completely in wet heat, swallowing around it.

Minghao clawed his hands into the mattress in a desperate attempt not to cum on the spot, his mouth falling open and eyes closing once again. He couldn't stop himself from moaning loudly, his back arching slightly, the sensations too much to handle.

Jun slowed down, kissing along the shaft and moving his hands in a way that made the younger see stars and whimper in need. The building pressure in his stomach made him feel like his body was about to explode.

"Ah... I'm so close... please, Jun... please..."

Jun started sucking his tip again and Minghao's abdomen pooled with heat.

 

"Please more... I need to- ah... Jun..."

 

"Are you okay?"

An unexpected touch on his face startled Minghao into opening his eyes. Next to his bed stood Jun, looking worried in the dim light of the bedroom. "You kept calling my name and you're awfully flushed. Are you getting sick?"

Minghao's mouth fell open in horror, his wide eyes flitting towards his lower regions. Jun followed his gaze and sucked in an audible breath at the sight of the obvious bulge beneath his roommate's bedsheets.

After a beat of awkward silence, he cleared his throat once. "Oh... Uhm... I guess you're okay then. I'll go to bed now. Uh. Sleep well." He crossed the room with lightning speed.

Minghao wasn't sure what to feel. His thoughts were a mess, still caught up in his sensual fantasy but saturated with the horrible embarrassment of getting caught while having a wet dream - about his roommate. By said roommate himself. He had no idea how to survive the upcoming days.


	6. Chapter V

 

Wrath got woken up in the worst possible way: with a _crash_. 

Loud arguing followed. 

He screwed his eyes shut, pretending not to hear Envy's screech of "That's MINE, you bastard! How dare you take it!" or Greed's roar of "Bullshit, yours is in your bag! Take your freaking hands off my stuff!". Something smashed against the wall next to his bed and made him curl even further into his blanket. He could hear Pride curse from across the room.

"Want me to take care of the idiot duo?" Wrath asked, his eyes still firmly closed. It was way too early for this kind of bullshit.

"I'll go. I still need them in one piece," Pride grumbled, already on his feet. With his most stern leader-face on display, he opened the door, fully prepared to slap some sense into the two demons - but before he could even set a foot outside, all screaming suddenly ceased.

"What the _hell_ is going on here?" a dangerously calm third voice asked.

Wrath's eyes abruptly shot open and he sat up, scrambling to get out of bed. Pride had turned pale at the unexpected turn of events.

The air suddenly became incredibly thick, making it hard to breathe. Crushing pressure was building around them. The infernal aura seeping into the room caused their skin to prickle. If it grew any stronger, their ears would surely start to bleed.

Pride tried to step forward but his movements were sluggish, his knees almost giving in. He had to hold on to the hallway wall so he wouldn't topple over. "Stop it!" he ordered with as much force as he could muster.

Wrath heard him, but the leader's usually charismatic voice sounded weak and unsteady. The small demon shook his head, once, twice, and tried again to get up from his bed - when the atmosphere suddenly returned to normal and he tumbled to the ground in a heap. His nose met the wooden floorboards but he was too unsettled to even curse at the pain. Picking himself up, he pushed through the door - only to find Pride half-conscious, held by a very apologetic Sloth. 

The usual drowsiness had vanished from the demon's face but his voice was as soft as always when he said, "Sorry, I just got so irritated when they woke me up... Can you look after them for a moment? I'll carry Seungcheol back to your room."

 

Sloth returned while Wrath was checking Greed's breathing.

The smaller demon regarded him with a judging stare. "You're really no joke. And that wasn't even close to the amount of power you had back in hell. You're easily the strongest out of all of us - you're just too lazy to be the leader, aren't you?"

"Well, there's a reason why I'm called Sloth," the other demon agreed, his eyes curving into crescents while he heaved Envy's body onto one of the beds. "Being the leader is way too much work. And I don't think Pride could accept it if anyone but Satan would try to order him around." He stopped talking for a moment to stretch his back with a groan. Envy wasn't exactly light. "Anyway, we should check on the humans too. They're probably knocked out as well."

Wrath nodded and placed a blanket on Greed, who was still lying on the floor. He couldn't be bothered to carry the much taller demon - and when he thought back to how they had woken him up earlier, he felt like they didn't deserve his care anyway. "I guess. Where's Soonyoung?"

"Oh, he's still in our room. It's odd though; he didn't even try to get up when the chaos started." Sloth frowned, obviously worried about his usually quite curious roommate.

"Maybe he didn't eat enough at dinner," Wrath mused. "We'll take a look after checking up on the humans."

 

After opening every single door in the hallway and finding all of the human tenants in deep slumber - although some of them looked like they had been about to get up before sleep had overwhelmed them again - they returned to Wrath's room first on Sloth's insistence. They both knew what was coming.

As soon as they entered, Sloth fell to his knees while Wrath stood watch next to him. "I'm at fault. I couldn't control myself," Sloth stated, guilt painting his delicate features. "I'll accept my punishment."

Face twisted into a scowl, Pride forced himself to get up from his bed. He wasn't a morning person and his already bad mood had plummeted even more after the incident. The thought that another demon had easily overpowered him was enough to make rage course through his veins - but, unfortunately, his body was currently too weak to discipline Sloth. I took him visible effort just to remain standing.

Seeing the leader's plight, Wrath moved to his side to support him. As soon as Wrath's arm wrapped around his waist, Pide's expression brightened. "Well, it happens to the best of us, doesn't it?" he said generously, completely out of character, before he pulled the smaller demon closer into his side, ignoring his annoyed glare. 

With Pride supported by Wrath, the three demons went to take a look at Soonyoung.

 

Gluttony was shaking under his blanket, his breathing laboured and his face red.

"What's wrong with him? Did he eat something weird?" Pride asked, completely clueless.

The others could only shrug and shake their heads. Talking to Gluttony didn't help either since his responses were jumbled and useless. They stood around his bed, not knowing what to do, until a door opened at the far end of the hallway. Hearing footsteps, they turned around and saw Seokmin walking past their room.

When the human spotted them, he sent them a smile. "Good morning, did you sleep well? I slept like a stone, not sure what's wrong with me today... Is there a problem?" He had noticed their lost expressions.

"Something's wrong with Soonyoung," Sloth explained after a short pause and several glimpses at Pride.

Seokmin stepped through the door to take a look. He let out a soft whistle. "Ouch, that doesn't look good. But it's no wonder he got sick; Jisoo said you all were completely drenched when you arrived. Did you bring any medicine with you?"

"Medicine?" Wrath repeated, his face blank.

"Yeah, cold medicine. I think I still have some somewhere but you should buy it for your friend as soon as possible. He doesn't look too healthy."

The demons exchanged looks. "That's indeed a good idea... Where do we get this _medicine_ you're talking about?" Pride asked pompously.

Seokmin shot him a baffled look. "Are you sure you're Korean? Or human in general?" The demons tensed but Seokmin only laughed. "You should really know where to buy medicine at your age. Did you come from a rural area or something?" At the handy explanation, Sloth nodded eagerly. "Oh, so you've probably been using some sort of home remedies, right? Here we just go to the pharmacy and buy it, but today is Sunday so you won't have any luck. I think it would help to simply cool him down and feed him some porridge." At the sight of their helpless faces, he shook his head. "Seriously, what's wrong with you guys? Wait here, I'll see if I still have some medicine left and get something to cool his head."

 

After Seokmin had left, the demons sat down next to the bed.

"He's sick... What the hell. We're not human, how can we possibly get sick? That doesn't make sense," Wrath whispered, an anxious expression on his face.

Pride leaned back with a low sight and said just as quietly, "Well, apparently now we can."

"Does that mean we can die? We're mortal? What happens if we die? Do we just return to hell or do we stop existing?" Sloth was chewing on his lower lip in worry.

"We won't know until we try. Any volunteers?" Wrath joked with a dry smile.

Pride whacked him on the head. "Not funny, you fool. Let's try to get Soonyoung healthy first, all other questions can come later. Seokmin didn't seem too worried so his life probably isn't in danger. But we should learn more about illnesses and other potential ways to die, just to avoid them."

 

Even after the other tenants had awoken from their not 100% voluntary slumber (including a rather nervous Greed and Envy, who tiptoed around Sloth for the next few hours), Seokmin had somehow turned into Gluttony's private nurse - after acknowledging the other demons' general uselessness. He took his temperature, changed the wet towels on his forehead, wiped his sweat and helped him eat. The demons were grateful since they had absolutely no idea how to handle a sick person.

"We should probably find a library to look up some facts about humans," Greed suggested, lounging lazily on his bed.

"Yeah, let's ask someone where to find one," Envy was once again enthusiastic, immediately jumping up to find one of their housemates. The others just shook their heads at his eagerness and waited for his return.

 

"He said that there's something even better than a library!" Envy announced shortly after while pulling Hansol after him. He ushered the hesitant human to sit on Greed's bed and threw himself on his own, almost burying Wrath beneath him. The small demon took revenge by kicking him off the bed.

Hansol eyed their expectant faces for a long moment. "Why don't you just look up the stuff you want on the internet?" he finally asked. "It's faster and the library's closed today anyway."

"Oooh, of course, the internet. How do we do that again?" Greed chirped, trying to sound casual and failing miserably.

The human lifted a judging eyebrow. "With your phone or computer, duh."

The demons shared another look. "Alright! Thanks for your help!" Envy took it upon himself to throw his 'guest' out, closing the door in front of Hansol's flabbergasted face. "Where do we get a phone or computer?" he asked after turning around.

"We could borrow one," Sloth suggested tiredly.

"We could buy one," Greed said at the same time, eyes already gleaming at the thought of a new toy.

"If you buy one, I want one too!" Envy chimed in at once.

Pride shook his head. "I think the shops are closed today; we'll have to wait if we want to buy one. I guess borrowing it would be the easiest way for now. Let's ask-" A knock interrupted him. His brows furrowed before he forced a smile on his face. "Yes?"

The door opened to reveal a slender body. Before the human could say anything, Pride cut to the chase. "Chan! Good to see you. Could we borrow your phone or computer?"

Chan looked a bit confused but nodded. "Sure, Seungcheol hyung. Is it okay to call you hyung? Anyway, Jisoo hyung sent me, he wants you all to come downstairs so we can divide the chores."

"Oh sure. And you can call me hyung, I don't mind."

 

The demons - except half-dead Gluttony - trailed after the youngest tenant, Pride and Wrath being the last ones to follow.

"Sooo... I just remembered: I'm older than you," Pride said suggestively.

"So what?" Wrath answered, his face betraying nothing.

"How about you start calling me hyung?" He nudged Wrath with a wiggle of his eyebrows. He got a rather sharp punch in return that drove the air right out off his lungs and nearly knocked him down the stairs.

"How about no?"

"Was just a suggestion," Pride muttered sulkily, rubbing his ribs. "One day I'll make you say it."

Wrath snorted at the declaration before he walked into the living room with a once again stoic face.

 

All the other tenants were already gathered but even the newly moved-in demons could feel that something wasn't quite right.

Jun and Minghao, who yesterday had seemed like they were attached at the hip, sat as far away from each other as possible. The atmosphere was rather awkward. Jisoo was desperately trying to make them talk to each other but Minghao only hid his face in Seokmin's sweater, who patted his head helplessly, while Jun chatted with Hansol - stealing secret glances at his roommate whenever he thought nobody would notice. Giving up, Jisoo sent the newcomers a tired smile and motioned them to sit wherever they felt comfortable.

Greed walked closer to Wonwoo and sat on the chair next to him, trying hard to make it look like a coincidence. His efforts earned him a smirk in return.

The rest of the demons simply sat on the floor, Sloth leaning sleepily against Pride.

"Where's the other guy, uh... Soonyoung?" asked Hansol.

"He's sick," Seokmin responded. "Flu, probably."

"Let's hope he gets better fast. If you need medicine, I can give you some." Jisoo smiled. "But yeah, I asked you to gather to newly divide the chores and duties in the house since we're quite a lot of people now. We need two people on cooking duty each day, also one for trash, one for laundry and cleaning and two for grocery shopping twice a week."

Fury was boiling in Wrath's chest at the thought that a measly human was giving him household chores to do. He had never done any chores to begin with - and doing them for _humans_ of all creatures was definitely a blow to his ego.

Pride wasn't happy either but he had much better control over his temper than the demon of anger. The dark aura around Wrath was almost visible by now and the leader was growing worried about the humans getting affected.

Wrath itched for a fight, preferably a bloody one, although Pride's whispered threats of unimaginable pain held him back - but only barely.

Finally, the leader was tired of the situation and asked Sloth to tranquillize Wrath, making him sink into Pride's awaiting arms with mumbled curses.


	7. Chapter VI

 

He awoke abruptly when something cold touched his burning forehead. With a tired groan, he tried to push it away, only to have his hand caught halfway by a bigger one.

"Stop trying to take it off; that's the third time already."

Opening his eyes at the sound of an unfamiliar voice, Gluttony squinted at the person holding his hand. "...Seokmin?" he mumbled after racking his brain for a moment.

A bright grin was the response to his wary expression. "Yep, that's me."

"Why are you in my room? What's going on?" Gluttony attempted to move but stopped with a grimace before Seokmin had the chance to reprimand him. "Urgh... everything hurts. This is so much worse than hell," he whined while rubbing his temple.

Seokmin smiled soothingly. "You had quite a high fever but it's gone down a little now. Are you hungry?"

"....not really." The demon's eyes immediately widened. "Oh god, what's happening to me?! Am I dying?!" he cried out in desperation. He had never not been hungry in the span of his whole existence.

"Of course not. It's perfectly normal to not have much of an appetite when you're sick. Seriously, what's wrong with you and your friends? It's like you've never encountered a cold before." Seokmin shook his head. Gluttony kept quiet. "You should still eat at least a little bit. I brought you some soup from lunch. Come on, sit up."

While slowly sitting up - with a little help from Seokmin - he spotted Wrath sleeping on Sloth's bed. "Wait. What's Wra- Jihoon doing here?"

"Oh, he suddenly collapsed during our morning meeting so we brought him here. He might be sick too, you know? We didn't want to risk infecting anyone else by letting him stay in his own room."

 

Meanwhile, the other demons were exploring the miracles of modern technology.

Chan had lent them his tablet and after a short tutorial session, technology-geek Greed was good to go. As soon as the young human had left, he poked the screen a few times to open Google, just like he had learnt it from Chan. The other demons were crowding around him, eyeing the flat piece of steel and glass with a healthy amount of distrust. "So, what should we search for?"

"How to kill a human?" Pride suggested.

"Sounds good." Eyebrows furrowed in concentration, Greed started typing.

"Oh god, why are there so many pages?" Envy asked warily. "Is it really that easy to die?"

"This one!" Pride pointed at a link that read 'Effective murder weapons (how to hide a body for dummies)'.

"I thought we wanted to look up diseases?" Sloth inquired sceptically.

"Later. That sounds much more interesting." Pride focused on the newly loaded page. "Woah, you can kill someone with an icicle. I wonder if Xiumin knows that."

Envy paled. "Aren't there icicles like everywhere in winter?"

"Drowning seems to be popular too," Greed pointed out.

Envy swore himself not to use the nice tub he had seen in the bathroom.

"Guys, we're not trying to kill someone; we're trying not to die ourselves. Can't you look up something more useful like accidents?" Sloth said, somewhat annoyed by now.

"Okay, okay," Pride relented. "Search for 'death by accident', Mingyu."

After some more typing, they found a rather dubious website, painted in dark colours and littered with videos. "Man crushed by tree," Greed read aloud.

"Oooh, come on, press that!" Pride was too excited for his own good.

Envy had curled into a small ball by now, not wanting to give anything the chance to hurt him. The human world was a terrifying place for a mortal, he concluded. Everything was out to kill him.

 

"What's that?" Sloth asked after a while, pointing at a picture of a seemingly shirtless woman with hooded eyes on the left side of the page. "She looks tired."

Greed tapped the screen and a new page popped up. It displayed multiple human females in rather compromising positions. He swallowed audibly. Curiously clicking on a picture led the demons to yet another video.

After watching for a few seconds, Greed's mouth fell open in astonishment. “How does that even _fit_ inside her?!”

Sloth only regarded the page with a tired look and shook his head. “Just leave her be. It's rude to stare.”

"The internet is a wonderful place," Pride whispered behind him, eyes glued to the video and a look of bliss on his face.

"Can we turn it off now? I want to go to bed. I'm scared," Envy whined, snuggling closer into Sloth's side.

The decision whether to turn it off or not was taken from them when the screen suddenly turned black.

"Oh god, did we break it?" Sloth asked anxiously.

Greed desperately pressed all the buttons available but nothing made the tablet stir back to life. "How am I going to explain this to Chan? What if he wants me to _pay_ for it?!"

 

Gluttony was pretty sure it was because he was sick, but every time Seokmin directed his wide smile at him, his stomach fluttered weirdly.

He was lying in his bed and awaiting the human's return with his promised early dinner since by now his appetite had returned tenfold.

Wrath was still sleeping which worried Gluttony slightly. But he concluded that since the other demons hadn't shown their faces it couldn't be that bad.

A knock shook him out of his thoughts and he sat up when Seokmin entered, carrying a tray filled with food. Ignoring the weird feeling in his stomach, Gluttony eagerly took the tray and started eating. He felt like it had been centuries since he last had a meal.

"Wow, slow down a little, you glutton; the food is not going to run away. And I don't want to revive you after choking on a fishbone." Seokmin laughed and pushed some stray hairs out of Gluttony's forehead to feel his temperature, effectively making him blush. "Hm... you're still a bit hot. But judging from the way you're inhaling the food, you're getting better."

Gluttony was so distracted by Seokmin's gaze that he didn't think about what he was eating anymore. That changed drastically when Seokmin's eyes widened all of a sudden. "What the... Soonyoung, are you okay?!"

Gluttony was confused. Of course he was okay, didn't Seokmin just say that he was getting better? "Yeah, why?"

"You... You ate... half of your fork? How's that even possible? Am I getting sick too? Maybe I'm hallucinating," Seokmin rambled while snatching the sad remains of the fork out of Gluttony's hand to examine them.

Gluttony had turned pale. Pride would grill his ass.

"What are you guys? First you behave like you're not from this timeline and now you're eating cutlery?" Seokmin backed away from him, the scared look on his face hurting more than Gluttony cared to admit. Not even the feeling of impending doom brought by Pride's anger was quite as bad as seeing Seokmin's fearful expression - but the demon had no clue how to resolve the situation. At least not without bloodshed. And he would rather face ten Prides before he would kill Seokmin over his own stupid mistake.

After the silence had stretched for an uncomfortable amount of time, Seokmin broke it with a deep sigh. He shot Gluttony a hard look, no trace of his usual smile left. "Nevermind, I'll leave now. Get well soon, Soonyoung."

As soon as the door had closed behind him, the demon buried his face in his hands and began to cry. Everything hurt. His head, his body, even his heart.

"Fantastic. We haven't been here for two fucking days and we already got found out. If I could smack you back to hell, I would," sounded Wrath's tired voice next to him, before Gluttony got enveloped in a very gentle hug.


	8. Chapter VII

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somewhat mature content at the end of the chapter - but I'll mark it for everyone who wants to skip.

 

Greed wasn't sure what was scarier: standing in front of Satan's throne room and waiting for an audience or standing in front of Chan's room, ready to explain that the younger owned one tablet less now. He could handle angry people - Wrath freaked out all the time - but Chan seemed like the type of person who would just silently accept it and then be depressed by himself afterwards. And that was something the demon definitely couldn't handle. Didn't want to handle, to be more precise. Who wanted to console sad humans anyway?

After all, he was only here because Sloth had forced him to go (by talking in his scarily calm angry-voice). Sloth was also the one telling him that Chan's room was directly across Greed's own room, immediately destroying his argument of not knowing where he lived.

Admittedly, it wasn't the strongest point to make, but at least he had tried.

Sad Chan was scarier than Satan but angry Sloth was the scariest, he decided before knocking hesitantly.

Unfortunately, after opening the door, he only found Jisoo sitting on his bed, reading.

His heart started beating faster at the sight of the surprised gaze directed at him. "Um... hi. Do you know where Chan is? I need to tell him something," Greed asked, a faint blush painting his cheeks.

"Chan? I think he went out with friends. Do you need help with something, Mingyu?" The corners of Jisoo's mouth lifted into his usual soft smile. His eyes curved into crescents. Greed's heart fluttered.

Should he tell him? But wouldn't he look like a fool in front of the pretty human? But then again, it was his chance to spend time alone with him... "Actually, I do have a little problem," the demon admitted sheepishly and scratched his neck.

"Oh? What is it?"

Greed showed the tablet to Jisoo with a dejected look. "I think I broke it... It turned black for some reason and I can't turn it back on..."

Jisoo got off his bed to take a closer look and Greed's heart jumped once again when their fingers brushed against each other. Taking the tablet, Jisoo examined it, not paying attention to the fidgeting demon next to him. While watching him, Greed felt the by now familiar feeling of possessiveness pulsing in his veins. This human was just too good to share.

"Hmm... did it fall down? Or did you pour liquid on it?"

Greed got shaken out of his daze. "No! We were just looking at videos and it suddenly turned off."

Jisoo gazed at him. "...you did charge it, didn't you?"

"Charge? What's that?"

"Wait a moment," Jisoo only said, rummaging through a desk that surely was Chan's, judging by the school books and general state of chaos. After a few seconds, he pulled out a cable with a triumphant smile. "Here we go!"

Plugging in the tablet, he pressed the start button and - surprise - the screen lit up immediately. Sweet relief flooded the demon at the sight. He wouldn't have to pay for a new one.

"You didn't break it, there was just no battery left." The human chuckled and Greed tried to look as if that made sense to him. Putting down the tablet, Jisoo turned back to the demon, his soft smile still playing on his lips. "You don't have much experience with electronic devices, do you, Mingyu?"

A tablet definitely wasn't worth getting found out over, so Greed decided that his best option was to flee as fast as possible - as much as he didn't want to part just yet. "Yeah, uh, not really. Thanks for the help, Jisoo. I'll just leave it here for Chan to find later."

 

Dinner was somewhat of a bleak affair this evening.

Chan and Wonwoo weren't at home while Wrath and Gluttony still hadn't left their beds. Jun and Minghao were still not on speaking terms even though it was obvious that Jun was trying to get the other to acknowledge him by asking him to hand over random bowls of food several times. Minghao did so without a word and without looking in the direction of Jun's dejected face. Even always-smiley Seokmin, who had been on cooking duty today (alone, since Gluttony was sick), looked oddly depressed. He barely touched his food and ignored Jisoo's concerned questions and glances.

The demons kept to themselves and tried to leave the table as fast as possible - except for Envy, who very thoroughly and slowly chewed every bite he took with an anxious expression.

 

Sloth returned to his room with the sweet promise of sleep occupying his thoughts. Opening the door, he found the lights turned on, but Wrath and Gluttony deeply asleep in the latter's bed. Gluttony's face was buried in Wrath's chest, only his hair visible, while the smaller demon was protectively curled around him, holding him close.

Sloth smiled at the sweet sight. He silently moved closer and adjusted their blanket, before turning off the lights and leaving to sleep in Wrath's room instead.

 

Envy couldn't sleep. It had been hours since Greed had turned off the lights (after a whispered fight over whose turn it was to shower first), but he was just as awake as he had been back then. Terrible thoughts were running through his mind; thoughts of choking in his sleep, of falling out of bed and breaking his neck, of sudden heart attacks, earthquakes, meteorites... He had been extra careful today, after finding out that he was probably mortal, but it was _so hard_. How could humans live like this?

An unexpected sound in the hallway startled him out of his thoughts. _Burglar!_ was the first thing that came to his mind. _I'm not ready to die yet!_ was the second.

He sat up slowly and glanced towards Greed's bed. Should he risk waking him up? Two demons were better than one but Greed was terribly useless after waking up, drowsy and unfocused. Envy didn't want to be responsible for the death of a fellow demon prince, therefore he ultimately decided against it. Utilizing the heavy book Jun had lent him as a weapon, Envy crept towards the door. If he got to the burglar first, the criminal wouldn't have the chance to stab him in his sleep, right? Right.

Listening for the intruder's light steps, he carefully pressed down the handle. He could make out a figure looming in the dark, sneaking its way down the stairs at the end of the hallway. Envy waited until the person was out of sight before gliding down the hallway as soundlessly as he could, the book firmly grasped in his sweaty hands. His heartbeat was hammering in his ears. In his whole existence, he had never been so afraid before.

Usually, he was the one instilling fear. The fact that a mere human was more frightening than him pissed him off a little.

Descending the stairs while holding his breath, he emerged directly behind the unsuspecting robber. Remembering Pride's warnings to not kill humans, he swung the flat side of the book - it hit the figure with a satisfying _wham_.

"Ow, fuck! What the hell?!"

Wait, he knew that voice.

Envy immediately paled. Turning on the light in the hallway, he found a very disgruntled Hansol sitting in front of him, nursing the back of his head.

"Wha- Seungkwan?! What was that for, asshole?! Are you trying to kill me or something?" The human was almost spitting fire.

"Uh... Sorry... I thought you were a robber...because you were sneaking around..." Envy's voice got quieter the longer he talked.

Hansol threw some colourful curses at him before he tried to get up. The demon hurried to his side to help him. "What were you doing anyway?" he finally dared to ask while Hansol was dusting off his butt. "It's the middle of the night and you're sneaking around, fully dressed. You nearly scared me to death, you idiot."

"It's none of your business what I'm doing," the human said sourly. "But now I sure don't feel like going anymore, thank you very much. If you're finished throwing books at me, I'll go to bed now." With those words, Hansol stomped up the stairs, leaving behind a contrite demon.

Well, at least now he knew that he had to hit harder to knock out a human.

 

* * *

 

**\- Warning: slight [M] content -**

* * *

 

 

Lust was sitting in the darkness of his room, eyes closed and head resting against the wall. That stupid demon's little brawl in the hallway had stopped him from going on his nightly prowl and he felt the aftereffects all too clearly by now. He cursed under his breath, fingers playing with the zipper of his pants, rubbing slightly against his bulge.

Why did Satan send those pests in the first place? Was he trying to keep an eye on him, worried that the only sin not under his reign would cause chaos after centuries of hiatus? Did he want him _back_?

Lust sneered. He had left hell because he liked his freedom. The freedom to choose whoever he wanted, whenever he wanted; to make them feel burning desire and to turn their world upside down. Satan had not given him these choices. He had kept Lust for himself, too paranoid about his 'most perfect creation' getting snatched away by someone else. He should've known better.

Lust was a free spirit. In the human realm, he had places he frequented for his type of games, places where he was well-known by now. Humans lined up to get a taste of his magic - he had built his very own kingdom where everyone was a slave to their lust.

But now, with those six clueless demons thrown in the mix, his game had suddenly become harder to play.

It was obvious that something was wrong with them. Their auras were weak, their demonic presences hard to detect, almost human-like. But regardless of how powerless they were right now, they still posed a threat to the comfortable life he was living. But he had to admit: they were indeed gorgeous. And having a demon lover would be something new and exciting. One of them even had piqued his interest immediately, at first sight.

He could imagine the demon already, kneeling in front of him naked and eagerly sucking his dick, lips wet and reddened, face flushed. He would fuck him _so good_.

Grinding his palm against his hard-on, he decided that it was time to pay the room of his favourite human pet a visit. It had been a while after all.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 


	9. Lust II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sexual content ahead

 

Lust walked down the dimly lit hallway. Silence was reigning in the house, the only sounds the quiet hum of the heating and his almost inaudible footsteps. The door he was looking for was closed when he reached it, just like the other doors in the hallway. Opening it as silently as possible, he stepped into the darkness of the bedroom and stopped to listen. He could hear steady breathing and the occasional rustling of fabric.

Through the door left ajar, a sliver of light was falling on the person he was here for, deeply buried beneath his blanket.

Lust stepped closer. The human's face always looked peaceful while he slept, almost innocent. It was fascinating. He enjoyed nothing more than to taint this innocence.

Caressing his cheek caused the other to stir awake. Slowly at first, with a quiet mumble, until he opened his eyes. The human stared at the demon for a few heartbeats before a flash of recognition lit up his eyes. "Wha-"

Lust immediately smothered his question with a kiss. 

After he had successfully made the other whimper, he moved to his ear, nibbling on his earlobe. "Shh. Don't wake the others." The male nodded, holding back another whimper at the feeling of teeth grazing his skin. He shuddered when Lust continued to whisper in his ear, "Let's go downstairs; I want to hear your voice while I fuck you."

While the human climbed out of bed, Lust picked up a sweater. They cautiously walked down the hallway, hand in hand.

 

In the living room, the demon closed the door before he began to switch on several of the smaller lamps scattered on window sills and side tables. The other male was draped across the sofa, watching him. His lean, bare legs were on full display and his eyes were slightly hooded - whether it was from sleepiness or arousal, Lust couldn't tell. But the sight was certainly distracting.

"It's been a while since you came," the human stated bluntly into the silence of the room.

"I had other business to take care of," Lust dismissed the implied question. If it had been anyone else, he would have kicked them to the curb for the audacity.

"I see. The hard life of a demon." The human smirked, stretching in a way that was entirely lascivious, earning himself a dark look.

"How about you stop rambling and do something more productive with that pretty mouth of yours?"

 

The human was sprawled on the dining table, legs spread wide open and throbbing erection exposed for the world to see. His slim fingers pumped in and out of his hole, making him tremble but not quite satisfying him. Lust was sitting leisurely on one of the chairs, watching the show.

"Those fingers went in awfully quick. You've been playing with yourself again?" he asked, his voice husky.

"You rarely visit me anymore... ah... what else am I supposed to do?" The breathless answer was almost a whine.

A grin tugged at the demon's lips. "Hah. I wonder what our lovely flatmates would think if they could see you right now, spreading yourself open like a slut. It would probably shatter their world view. What were you thinking about while fingering yourself, hm?"

"Mh... that new tenant..." The human choked down a moan.

"Interesting... Did you notice that he's a demon? All of them are."

"'course." He whimpered when he finally hit the spot he had been searching for, body growing tense. "They're... ah.. even more obvious than you... when you first arrived..."

Lust raised an eyebrow, his dark eyes smouldering with desire. "How can you still be so sassy while fucking yourself so eagerly in front of me?" He didn't give the boy a chance to answer. Instead, he got up and pulled him closer, now standing at the edge of the table between the other's bare legs. "But I love that sharp tongue of yours." 

The demon licked over the salty skin of the boy's throat while wrapping his fingers around his neglected dick, making him cry out. Lust could feel his own arousal rising, affecting the human in front of him by fueling his desire even further and amplifying the sensations. "What do you want me to do to you, baby?" the demon whispered, moving his hand at an agonizingly slow pace, causing the other to squirm and shudder beneath him.

 

After their appetites had been thoroughly sated, the couple sat lazily on the sofa, the human clad in the sweater Lust had brought from his room. The demon was running his fingers through the other male's hair, spoiling him with soft kisses to the temple.

"Clean the table before the others use it tomorrow," the human mumbled sleepily, his eyes only half-open.

"Don't worry, I'm the first one to get up anyway. Let's get you back to bed before you fall asleep here." Helping him up, the demon slung an arm around his waist and led him to the living room door.

"By the way, what did you do to Minghao?" the boy suddenly asked, a knowing glint in his eyes.

Lust stiffened slightly at the question but answered it nonetheless after a second of hesitation. "His sexual frustration was annoying, so I tried to release it. Though I think I might've made it worse."

The human only laughed in response.


	10. Chapter VIII

 

Gluttony woke up in Wrath's embrace, feeling refreshed and much better than the day before - until he remembered the events that had occurred last evening. He groaned. He would have to talk to the other demons and - which was even worse - to Seokmin. Maybe even to the other humans, depending on whether Seokmin had talked to them about the incident or not. Sighing, he decided that it was time to face his demise. 

He had lived a good life. Hopefully, the demons would still come to his funeral.

Trying to climb over the smaller demon without waking him proved to be fruitless when fingers suddenly dug into his nape.

"You almost kneed me in the balls, you little fucker! Is this how you pay me back for my company?!" Wrath growled into his ear before tackling him to the ground. By the time the other demons kicked open the door, Gluttony was screaming for help, tears streaming down his face.

Pride pulled Wrath away from the shaking body on the floor.

"What the hell, Jihoon! We seriously thought you're torturing him," Greed grumbled, rolling his eyes in exasperation. His hair was sticking up in several places.

"I'm pretty sure tickling is considered torture in some countries," Sloth said while leaning against the wall, yawning.

"Next time please die more quietly, Soonyoung." Envy was obviously cranky this morning.

"Did any of the humans wake up from the ruckus?" Pride asked, listening for noises in the hallway while still holding Wrath in a headlock.

The smaller demon elbowed his stomach in retaliation. "It's past 10 on a weekday. There's no way they're still here." He nodded toward the clock on the wall.

Gluttony had recovered by now, wiping away his tears. He decided that it was definitely safer to talk to the demons after they had eaten a satisfying meal. "We should have breakfast together!" he suggested, his tone as chipper as possible while he made his way to the door on somewhat unstable legs. He wasn't quite sure whether it was from Wrath's tickle-torture or from fear.

The others agreed - although both Envy and Sloth eyed the beds longingly - before they followed Gluttony out of the room.

 

The whole flat was quiet and empty, an unusual sight for a place that was normally filled with 13 people.

On the dining table, they found a piece of paper, carefully ripped out of a notepad and neatly folded. Pride took it upon himself to read it out loud.

"Dear new tenants,  
by now you probably have noticed that everyone is out. Chan will return from school around four pm while the others will arrive between five and six.  
It is Seungcheol's and Jihoon's turn to cook, please have dinner ready by seven. We are going to go grocery shopping tomorrow, so don't feel shy to use up the food in the pantry.  
Soonyoung is responsible for cleaning and doing the laundry today. If he is still sick, you should find someone else to take over for him.  
Have a nice day and see you later,  
Jisoo"

Wrath groaned, his fingers itching to rip the offending piece of paper apart. "I don't wanna cook. I'm not a god damn maid. I don't even know _how_ to cook in the first place."

Compared to his irritated expression, Pride seemed rather eager. "We'll figure something out. Failure is not an option," the leader declared with burning determination. It couldn't be that difficult when even puny humans could do it, right? They had to prove their worth as almighty demon princes to the lowly creatures.

Sloth disguised his snort as a cough.

"I'll exchange some valuables into money. And then I'll buy a computer and a phone," Greed announced, equally as passionate as Pride.

Sleepy Envy perked up at those words. "I'll go with you. I want a computer too." Greed didn't look too happy but didn't dare to argue after Wrath had pierced him with a threatening look.

"Are you up to cleaning or are you still feeling bad?" Sloth asked Gluttony, a hint of concern in his tired eyes.

"I'll be fine. I just need some food in my stomach."

"Breakfast first then," Pride decided.

 

Standing in the kitchen left everyone but Gluttony somewhat stumped. He was in heaven though, ushering the other demons to sit on the couch and relax while he whipped up breakfast (with the ulterior motive of calming their anger for blowing their cover - he was amazed that Wrath hadn't spilt the beans yet).

 

Half an hour later, Gluttony presented what could only be called a feast. Mountains of fluffy pancakes, eggs and bacon, bread with jam - even a batch of warm blueberry muffins he had baked. Not even Wrath could complain about sub-par cooking.

While everyone was eating happily, Gluttony decided that it was time to drop the bomb.

"IWasSickAndNotMyselfAndSomehowIAteAForkInFrontOfSeokminAndNowHeKnowsWeAreNotHuman," he blurted in one breath.

The other demons only stared at him blankly. "Excuse me, what?" Sloth asked after a moment of silence had passed.

Knowing full well what was going to come, Wrath grimaced. He scooted a little bit further away from Pride, just in case. Since they weren't quite sure how mortal the were right now, he didn't want to risk getting hit by a plate. Or stabbed with a butter knife.

"I... I'm not sure how it happened. I think it was because I was sick and I couldn't think clearly... But I somehow ended up eating a fork in front of Seokmin and now he knows that something's up." Gluttony's plate had suddenly become incredibly interesting, so he examined it very closely while waiting for a response.

The first one to react was Envy: "Out of all the cool stuff you could've done to reveal us, you seriously picked eating a fork?"

While Gluttony turned a pretty shade of pink, Greed couldn't contain his laughter any longer. Envy joined in but Gluttony's eyes were still glued to his plate since Pride and Sloth had remained eerily quiet so far.

Finally, after Greed and Envy had managed to stifle their giggles, Sloth heaved a long sigh. "Well, I guess it was inevitable. I'm actually surprised we lasted longer than 24 hours." Gluttony wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or offended at that comment.

He dared to take a quick peek at Pride, who displayed a rather dark expression. But instead of skinning Gluttony alive (like he had expected him to), he turned towards Wrath. "You knew about this." His voice was filled with accusations.

"Yeah," Wrath confirmed, meeting his gaze head-on.

"You knew, and you didn't fucking tell me. Why?!"

Pride's aura became overwhelming, filling the living room and shaking the window panes. Gluttony, Envy and Greed cautiously moved back, taking shelter behind the doorframe, but neither Sloth nor Wrath looked impressed. Sloth simply kept eating his egg while Wrath raised a daring eyebrow.

"No need to be so overdramatic. It happened yesterday evening and I happened to be there since _someone_ made sure I got sedated a few hours earlier - thank you for that by the way, asshole. Soonyoung was crying afterwards, so I calmed him down and we fell asleep. I simply had no time to tell you." His gaze visibly cooled. "And I don't rat out my friends. You should know that best."

The ominous atmosphere immediately lightened after this explanation. Sloth stopped eating and nodded affirmatively. "I told you I've seen them together yesterday. I even slept in your room."

After a short period of heavy silence, Pride took a deep breath. "I overreacted. You can come back to the table," he said, looking slightly sheepish. It was as close to an apology as they would get from their proud leader. 

The three demons sat back down, relieved that nobody had gotten hurt.

"I guess we'll have to talk to Seokmin when he returns." Pride ruffled his hair in annoyance.

 

After Greed and Envy had left for their shopping trip, the remaining demons felt too full and lazy to actually do anything productive. Sloth had left the living room to spend some quality time with his bed while Wrath and Pride were cuddled up on the couch, waiting for Gluttony, who was gathering snacks in the kitchen. Wrath was playing with the remote, changing all the settings of the television by accident until Pride forced him to stop and took the remote away from him. Switching channels like he had seen the humans do it, he found an action movie that fit both his and Wrath's taste. Gluttony returned with two bags of chips (one for him and one for the other two demons), and they spent the noon watching movies.

 

Around three pm, Gluttony decided that he should start cleaning. He wasn't exactly sure what the task 'cleaning' included but he knew he had to do the laundry, therefore that was where he started.

Gathering the laundry wasn't much of a problem since every room had its own laundry basket. The problem came in the form of a massive grey washing machine that was waiting to get filled. Cautiously, the demon lifted the lid, peering into the darkness. When nothing unexpected happened, he started to throw in the clothing, only picking it up with the tips of his fingers and wrinkling his nose once in a while. Closing the lid afterwards, he was sure he had finished the task successfully - except that, still, nothing happened. The washing machine was as unmoving and quiet as it had been before.

Gluttony tried to determine which button would turn it on when he got interrupted by Chan storming in. "Hyung! Oh thank god, you didn't turn it on yet. Can you please wash my school sweater too? I spilt sauce on it today and I really need it tomorrow."

"Sure. Um... Do you by any chance know how to use this thing?"

"Yeah, I was on laundry duty with Hansol hyung before," Chan said while taking off the soiled sweater, his voice slightly muffled by the fabric. "You have to put the laundry detergent in here, turn this button to 40 degrees and then press that button over there. Thanks, hyung! I'll be in my room if you need any help."

Gluttony only nodded absentmindedly, focused on the bottle of detergent he had found in the cupboard. He decided that since it smelt good, it couldn't hurt to use a bit more for the smelly clothes. After he had filled the little box in the machine to the brim with blue liquid, he pressed the buttons like Chan had instructed him to. Feeling very satisfied with his good work, he left to start cleaning.


	11. Chapter IX

 

It was shortly before the other tenants were supposed to return that Pride and Wrath got up from their comfortable position on the sofa to actually get some work done. But before the leader of the demons even had the chance to pull Wrath into the kitchen, they heard a panicked scream from upstairs. Wrath was unusually willing to find out what was going on, so they ran up the stairs together with just-arrived Hansol, who was still wearing his thick parka and a scarf.

They located the origin of the scream in front of one of the bathrooms, where a clearly horrified Gluttony tried to prevent something that looked like a wall of bubbles from spilling into the hallway.

Wrath and Hansol stood gaping on the last steps of the stairs while Pride jumped into action. "What the hell did you do?" he growled as he uselessly tried to shovel foam back into the bathroom with his bare hands.

"Th- the washing machine. I think I p-put too much detergent in it," Gluttony stammered through a mouth full of bubbles while simultaneously using his body to stop the foam from escaping.

Pride tried to reply which also earned him a face full of bubbles. "Get your asses over here and help out!" he barked at the two idiots who were still staring from a safe distance. Both scrambled closer at once but were unsure what to do, ultimately making everything even worse.

Amidst the chaos, a new figure had emerged on the stairs.

"Um... What's going on?" Seokmin asked, eyes wide, taking in the scene of four people half-buried by foam in front of the bathroom door. Gluttony immediately tried to hide behind the bubbles at his sight.

"That idiot here put too much detergent into the washing machine." Pride pointed at Gluttony who immediately shrunk under Seokmin's gaze.

"I see... Did you turn off the washing machine yet, Soonyoung?"

"Um...no...?"

"WHAT?!" Wrath foamed more than the bubbles around him. Gluttony seemed to get even smaller at his rage.

Seokmin noticed the oncoming outburst and intervened as fast as possible. "Seungcheol, how about you and Jihoon start with dinner while I take care of this problem together with Soonyoung? And you go and rest Hansol. No offence but you are even worse at cleaning than Soonyoung."

Except for Gluttony, everybody was content with this suggestion.

 

After changing out of their wet clothes, Wrath and Pride returned to the kitchen. Pride began to scan the contents of the cupboards while Wrath looked on in disdain. "What should we cook? There are noodles here, rice and some canned fruits and vegetables." The elder walked over to check the fridge. "Hm... Eggs, jam, butter, Parmesan cheese, some leftover meat, bacon and some vegetables I don't know the name of." He held up zucchinis, onions and an eggplant.

"Fried rice?" Wrath proposed unenthusiastically.

"Good idea! Let's see... You search for a large pan while I get knives."

The younger lazily opened the cupboard closest to him which was filled with different condiments. He decided that they'd probably need some of them so he picked chilli, salt and black pepper - the only ones he knew. Pride had prepared knives and cutting boards by now and - impatient as always - had found a pan by himself which he placed on the stove.

Wrath trudged over, eyeing the ingredients on the counter. "Do you really want to put cheese in it?"

"Of course. Cheese makes everything better."

"Sure..." Wrath didn't look too convinced but chose not to argue - yet. "Do we cook the rice first?"

"No, we'll just let it cook together with the other stuff. Fill that pan with water," Pride ordered, busying himself with chopping the meat and zucchini into uneven bits.

"Yes Sir," Wrath grumbled sarcastically, wobbling slightly under the weight of the almost overflowing pan.

"Turn on the heat and pour in the rice."

Doing as he was told, Wrath looked more and more disgruntled with each order from the leader.

"Let's add eggs too," Pride decided with gleaming eyes. He was obviously having fun.

Wrath distrustfully poked one of them. "I don't know how to open those."

"Just smash it and put the runny stuff in the pan."

Wrath found that squishing eggs wasn't all that bad. Maybe he would take that up as a hobby to relieve stress.

"Now help me chop those." Pride pointed at the onions while throwing the abused pieces of meat and vegetables in the simmering water.

Grinding his teeth, Wrath picked up the knife, contemplating to simply stab Pride and get it over with. Instead, he stabbed the onion but regretted it immediately when the strong vapour made his eyes water. "Ow, what the hell is this?" he whined, frantically wiping his face with his sleeves, the sharp knife slipping out of his wet fingers and almost landing on his bare foot.

Pride, who had been busy adding chilli flakes to their fried rice soup, jumped to his side, dumping the whole bag in the process (plastic included). He hastily pulled Wrath into the hallway, away from the dangerous vegetable, and wrapped him into his arms. "Don't cry, it'll be okay. I'm here Jihoonie," he cooed while trying to wipe away the other's tears.

Wrath lowered his hands from his red face and shot him a furious, teary-eyed look. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, YOU DUMBASS! Why did you agree to this, goddamnit?! What the hell! We're demons; we bring mayhem and kill people - we don't fucking cook for them! Where is that damn pride you're so proud of, huh?!"

Pride's face changed from sheepish to livid the longer Wrath was spitting fire at him. "Listen here, you little sh-"

Before he could finish his sentence, he got interrupted by an angry hissing sound from inside the kitchen. Turning towards the stove, the two demons paled at the sight of the overboiling pan, spilling angry red chilli water everywhere.

 

After Soonyoung had forced his body through the foam in the bathroom and turned off the washing machine (nearly suffocating in the process), the bubbles slowly but surely had gotten less dense. Seokmin had sped up that process tremendously by using the showerhead to wash everything down the drain in the tiled floor. After almost an hour of wiping and cleaning up the mess, the two of them sat on the edge of the bathtub, wet and exhausted.

"You should change your clothes. You'll get sick again," Seokmin broke the silence.

Gluttony glanced at him bashfully. It was embarrassing to admit how happy it made him that Seokmin wasn't speaking in the cold tone from last night. "Thanks, Seokmin, you really saved me." Pride would have killed him if Seokmin hadn't interfered. "I only arrived the day before yesterday and you already helped me out twice." The demon rubbed his flushed nape.

The human smiled his warm smile. "You seem to attract trouble and I can't seem to leave you alone." That sentence alone was enough to make Gluttony's stomach all fluttery again. "But I still want to know what's going on with you and your friends."

Gluttony's fluttery stomach immediately dropped, together with his heart. Looking everywhere but in Seokmin's direction, he took a deep breath. This was it. the moment he had prepared himself for. Weirdly enough, it was even scarier than talking to the other demons. He swallowed audibly while he gathered his courage. "Well... would you believe me if I tell you that we're not human?"

Seokmin remained silent for a long moment, then he laughed. "Yeah? What are you? Aliens? Do you have little pink tentacles hidden under your shirt?"

Gluttony shot him an offended look. " _Excuse_ me, we're not _aliens_. We are demons. The Great Princes of Hell, to be exact."

That statement shut Seokmin right up. "'Great Princes of Hell'?" he repeated after a while. "You've got to be kidding me."

"It's your choice whether you believe me or not, really," Gluttony said casually, feeling more confident after seeing his reaction.

Seokmin stayed quiet for a bit longer before he asked, "So, do all demons eat forks?"

Gluttony's newly found confidence collapsed like a cardhouse, his face turning pink. "N-no. That's just me."

Seokmin raised an eyebrow.

Gluttony cleared his throat. He had never given much thought to his name and powers but now - face to face with a human - they seemed sort of lame compared to the other demons, didn't they? He forced himself to explain anyway. "Uh, I don't know if you've heard of the 'Seven Deadly Sins' before? They consist of Pride, Sloth, Gluttony, Envy, Greed, Wrath and Lust. I'm Gluttony. I can always eat and pretty much everything, even inedible stuff. I wasn't careful enough yesterday so I took a bit of the fork by accident. You humans weren't supposed to know that you're rooming with demons though, so please don't tell anyone?" He finished with puppy eyes for added effect.

Seokmin had to look away to gather his thoughts. "So the others are also demons? Why are you here though? Wait, why are you only six if there's supposed to be seven sins?"

"Well, we kinda got kicked out of hell for a little mistake. We're only six because Lust is missing since long ago, nobody knows where he is. And yeah, the others are also demons of sins. Seungcheol is-"

"Don't tell me!" Seokmin interrupted with sparkling eyes. "Seungcheol is Envy, right? Oh, and Jeonghan is Sloth, definitely. Jihoon can only be Wrath. Hm, who's left? Mingyu should be Pride and Seungkwan is Greed. Did I get it right?"

Gluttony couldn't suppress a grin at his sudden enthusiasm. This was going a lot better than he had expected. "Not quite. Seungcheol is Pride, Mingyu is Greed and Seungkwan is Envy."

"Oh, really? I was so sure about Seungcheol; he always gets so crabby when someone tries to talk to Jihoon."

Snorting, Gluttony nodded. "Yeah, they are the closest out of all of us even though they fight all the time. But you better not say that to their faces or Jihoon will hunt you down."

 

The two of them chatted animatedly while walking back to their rooms to finally change out of the wet clothes. Meeting up in the hallway afterwards, Seokmin continued his 1000 questions until they reached the door of the kitchen.

Gluttony stopped him with a hand on his chest. "What's that smell?" Cautiously, he peeked into the kitchen - only to find a battleground. It was filled with smoke, pieces of ingredients scattered over the cupboards, the floor wet with oddly reddish water and on the stove was a pot of something that smelled so unappealing that not even Gluttony wanted to eat it. The two demons responsible for the chaos stood in the middle of it all, screaming their heads off.

Gluttony turned back towards Seokmin with a very forced smile. "You should go into the living room first. I'll help out in the kitchen a little."

"Will you be okay?"

"I'm good at cooking, don't worry. Just tell the others that it might take a bit longer."

 

Wrath was in the middle of a shouting match with Pride when he felt a rather threatening aura enter the kitchen.

"What did you do to the poor food?!" An angry voice interrupted them. Gluttony stalked over to the sizzling pan and turned off the heat completely. "What the hell is this supposed to be, huh?"

"Fried rice?" Pride answered meekly.

"Why is it so wet?"

"We were cooking the rice..."

Gluttony moved closer to the concoction, examining it with deeply furrowed brows. "Did you wash the rice beforehand?"

The silence of the two demons was answer enough.

Gluttony stirred it once. "Is that plastic? And why are there so many eggshells? Are you trying to kill the humans?!" His voice had once again grown louder towards the end.

They shook their heads in silence (although a bit hesitantly on Wrath's part).

Gluttony exhaled and massaged his temples before he threw the entire pan in the trash. "You two clean up the mess you made. I'll try to somehow create a meal out of the remaining ingredients. And No. Bickering. If I hear even a single complaint, I'm going to make mincemeat out of you both."

The two scolded demons sulkily began to bring out mops and cleaning rags.


	12. Chapter X

 

Chan carefully knocked on the door of the bedroom. After not getting an answer, he hesitated a bit before he knocked again, a little more strongly this time.

"Yes?"

He opened the door slowly, revealing Jeonghan stretched out in his bed. The elder's hair was dishevelled but, even though it was obvious that he had been asleep only moments prior, he still managed to look quite breathtaking. It made Chan even more insecure than he already had been. Anxiously fiddling with his shirt, he stepped into the room.

 

Sloth was frowning at first, not exactly happy about getting disturbed while resting. There was little he hated as much as getting woken up - therefore it didn't happen all that often. He had already opened his mouth to lash out when the opening door revealed Chan's pale face. At once, his anger simmered down. Children and little animals had always been a weakness of his. The hands of the youngest tenant were visibly shaking and Sloth face softened even further. Sitting up, he combed his fingers through his silky hair while sending the human a smile. "Chan, what can I help you with?" The demon patted the space next to him and Chan reluctantly sat down.

"Hyung..." he began slowly but stopped, biting his lip.

Sloth was getting worried now. The younger had never seemed particularly scared of them before - had he found out about their secret? The question was burning on the tip of his tongue but he kept it to himself, waiting for Chan to continue.

The human took a moment to gather his courage until finally: "You... You don't hate me, do you? Me and the others? You wouldn't hurt us?" Chan squeaked, unable to meet the gaze of the demon.

"No! Why would you think that?" Neither Sloth's surprise nor his bafflement at these questions was fake. He wasn't like Wrath or Pride, too stuck up to accept anyone they deemed weak. On the contrary, he genuinely liked the human tenants even though some of them were a bit too loud. The only one he couldn't quite figure out was the demon who was hiding in their midst - but the younger didn't need to know that.

"It's just... I think Mingyu and Seungcheol might be planning something. Something bad. But I'm not saying they're bad people!" Chan hurriedly clarified, casting worried glances at the demon. His trembling voice was revealing his anxiety. It was obvious that he was terrified of Sloth's reaction.

"What do you think they're planning?" the elder asked. His tone was light, his expression composed. He had an inkling of what was going on - and scaring the child would only make matters worse.

"I lent them my tablet- I know you were there too but you probably fell asleep, right?" Chan didn't give the demon the chance to answer. "Anyway, I lent them my tablet and today I saw that they were searching for- for ways to kill people. And how to make it look like an accident." His voice had turned into a whisper, genuine fear was clouding his eyes. "Please, I can't talk to anyone else about this. Jihoon would probably get angry, and Soonyoung and Seungkwan wouldn't take me seriously, I'm sure!" Tears began to well up. "I know you're all friends but they seem to respect you a lot and you are such a calm person. Please talk to them! If they really plan something, you have to stop them!" He stared at Sloth in despair.

The demon's heart squeezed at the thought of how much courage it must have taken the younger to actually come and talk to him: an almost-stranger with shady friends. Admiration was an emotion he had rarely felt ever since he had become a demon - and that he would feel it because of a human was something he surely hadn't expected. On impulse, he wrapped his arms around Chan, petting his back and soothing him with the help of his power. In response, Chan buried his face in the demon's chest, the tension in his shoulders slowly dissipating at the gentle touch.

"Thank you for trusting me enough to talk to me about this matter, Chan. Please trust me once more when I say that it's not the way you think it is. They are not trying to kill someone, rather we are trying to stay alive."

Chan lifted his face to look him in the eyes, more curious than scared now. "You're trying to stay alive? Is someone chasing you or something?"

A small smile lightened up Sloth's serious expression. "Sorry, that's a secret for now. But judging by how things are going, I'm pretty sure it's going to be revealed soon enough - regardless if we want to or not." He sighed before he petted Chan's soft hair one last time and asked, "Do you want to go downstairs together? Dinner should be ready soon."

"Sure!" The younger eagerly got up, bouncing towards the hallway. Before opening the door, he turned towards Sloth once more. "By the way, that porn website wasn't very good. I can recommend better ones."

 

Jun was tired of the situation. He had tried multiple times to talk to his roommate after that fateful night two days ago but Minghao was like a ninja when it came to avoiding him. The only times they actually had spent together were during dinner and at night. During dinner, Minghao pretended to be mute, while at night, he pretended to fall asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow.

Therefore, Jun had chosen a new strategy: an ambush. He had already set the trap by loudly declaring that he would return late today while he was having breakfast with Seokmin, Chan and his - silent - roommate.

Hiding behind the door until Minghao returned home from university made Jun feel somewhat childish but he justified it with the fact that the younger would probably seek shelter in the living room once he saw him waiting.

The door opened not long after, almost crushing his nose, and his cautious roommate entered. Minghao looked around for a few seconds before he exhaled and set down his bag. Then he flopped belly-first on Jun's bed and buried his face in the pillow.

A blush crept over Jun's cheeks at the sight, all the way to his glowing-hot ears. But it only strengthened his resolve to talk the situation out. He shook himself out of his daze and used that moment of carelessness to close and lock the door, successful trapping his ~~prey~~ roommate.

Minghao shot up in a sitting position at the sound. The sight of Jun instantly made him turn pale. His eyes flitted from the locked door to the window.

Jun jumped in front of it. "Oh no, you're not going to pull your ninja stunts on me again! We're going to have a talk, here and now!"

Minghao seemed to deflate a little at his commanding tone and for the first time in two days, he actually spoke to Jun, "Why are you doing this? Just ignore me and let's go our own ways." His face flushed when he remembered that he was still sitting on Jun's bed. Scrambling to his feet, he stuttered, "Sorry! Just, uh, ignore that too. Uhm, I won't do it again, promise!"

"What are you talking about? Why would I ignore you?" Jun was completely lost, confusion knitting his brows together.

"Aren't you disgusted?" Minghao asked in a tiny voice that was quite unlike him. His eyes were trained on the floor.

"No! Of course not! I was just surprised. Everybody would be when... you know... something like _that_ happens." Both of them blushed at the same time. Jun summoned all his courage and stepped in front of his roommate, grabbing his cold hand. "I guess I take it as a compliment? At least now I know that I'm attractive enough to dream about," he joked.

Minghao blushed an even darker shade of red. "Very attractive," he whispered.

Jun couldn't stop his heart from beating faster. A wide smile spread on his lips. "You're pretty handsome yourself."

His roommate smiled the first real smile in two days and Jun couldn't help but close the distance between their faces, his lips meeting Minghao's.

 

Just when Sloth and Chan arrived in the living room, the front door of number seventeen opened. In walked Greed and Envy, carrying as many bags as humanly possible and squabbling loudly. It seemed like Greed had bought better gadgets for himself than for Envy, an audacity the other demon would not tolerate.

"It's MY money! Next time I won't buy you anything if you keep complaining!"

"I'm just saying that you obviously bought the more expensive and better stuff for yourself. If you buy something for a friend, it should have at least the same quality!"

"What the-, how can you be so small and so shameless at the same time? Your ego is like twice your size."

"Are you insulting me?!"

Sloth just rolled his eyes and took a seat next to Seokmin on the couch, who was sporting a knowing grin.

"What's wrong with those two?" Jisoo asked curiously, watching the pair before he sat down next to the demon.

"Just ignore them. They're always like this," Sloth replied with a yawn.

Hansol had just opened his mouth to contribute something when the door of the kitchen opened and a scowling Wrath walked out, carrying a big pot, followed by an equally grumpy Pride.

"Did you cook that?" Envy asked, eyeing the pot distrustfully.

"I made it." Gluttony appeared in the doorway. "Let's set the rule that those two are not allowed in the kitchen anymore, except for cleaning duty. I don't want to die of food poisoning." Everybody laughed at the statement but the demons shared an anxious look. If Gluttony said the food was bad, it had to be really _really_ bad.

 

Jun and Minghao joined the table shortly after everyone else was seated, cheeks tinted pink and smiles on their faces.

The idiot couple had chosen seats as far away from each other as possible: Greed sitting next to Wonwoo and Wrath while Envy was squeezed between Hansol and Pride. Nobody was stupid enough to comment on the fact that something was obviously wrong between Pride and Wrath, therefore the dinner finished in peace, without any flying plates.

 

 

The demon was standing in front of the bookshelf in the living room, trying to decide which book to pick before returning to his room for the night. Even in hell, he had liked to read; it calmed him down and distracted him if necessary. And after everything that had happened, he needed a distraction. There were just too many people crammed into this tiny house for him to rest properly and it had begun to affect his mood. It would be a problem for the tenants - humans and demons alike - if he became more irritable.

Behind him, someone closed the living room door. The demon wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone after enduring the chatter of twelve people throughout the day, therefore he chose to ignore the newcomer, hoping they would do the same.

That was until he felt a presence closing in on him, radiating demonic power.

Warm hands suddenly caressed his shoulders and a body moulded itself against his back. A single kiss was pressed into the crook of his neck.

"I've been wanting to do this for some time now," a silky voice purred next to his ear. "I was getting tired of waiting for you to come out of your room - and every time you came out, you were surrounded by the others. It was maddening." The voice had turned noticeably sharper but after a short pause, it regained its alluring tone. "You don't seem surprised. Did you perhaps suspect that there was another demon in this house?"

The demon in front could feel the other demon's power coiling around him, coaxing him to give into desire, to relax and to let himself fall into the awaiting arms of the person behind him. Slim hands were running up and down his chest, smoothing down the fabric of his shirt.

"I didn't expect you to come for me so blatantly, Lust. But then again, you're not exactly the subtle type," the demon in front scoffed. He wasn't in the mood for games. "I knew you were a demon ever since we first met."

The hands on his chest froze for a second before they resumed their pace, dipping lower and lower with each stroke. "What gave me away?" The demonic aura was getting more and more forceful. Desire was filling the air, so thick it was almost visible.

"Your power is faint but still noticeable when you're suppressing it - and you used it quite freely at night, didn't you? The rest was just simple observation."

"So you're not as unperceptive as you appear to be. Why didn't you tell your little friends about me then?"

The demon caught the wandering hands before they could reach his pants, his fingers leaving red marks on Lust's pale skin. "Why should I? You obviously didn't want to reveal yourself and you weren't harming anybody - until now." Jeonghan turned around, facing the demon behind him. It only took a single blow of his own demonic power to dissipate Lust's suffocating aura. "Never again try to force yourself on me. You are not the strongest demon here - regardless of what you delude yourself into, Jisoo."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The truth about Lust is out, JunHao made up and Chan can live an angst-free life again ^^  
> It surprised me how many people suspected Jisoo, congrats to all of you :D


	13. Lust III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing Lust (the demon) related in this chapter, sorry :)
> 
> This chapter contains spanking, light bondage and the usage of sex toys. If you're uncomfortable, please skip it~

 

Wrath slammed the door shut behind him with a resounding _crash_ before turning towards Pride who was standing in the middle of their bedroom, arms crossed in front of his chest. The demon of anger was at his boiling point, had been throughout the evening. The fight in the kitchen had started a fire that only got fueled by Pride's aloofness during dinner.

Normally they fought and made up, no hard feelings; it had been this way for centuries. But the abnormality of the situation - suddenly forced into the human realm, sharing a house, even sharing a room - had aggravated both of them. A breaking point had been reached when Wrath had insulted the elder's pride. That was something out of the ordinary, something that had never happened between them and Wrath regretted it deeply.

Pride was kind for a demon, especially towards Wrath, but he was also exceptionally bad at two things: Apologizing and accepting an apology. It went against his nature to be forgiving or to admit his wrong-doings, therefore Wrath couldn't blame him for it. Admittedly, Wrath wasn't very good at apologizing either, but he was the type to blow up when someone made a mistake and then let it go afterwards, no apologies needed. Pride bottled it up instead until he lost his temper, which was a terrifying sight to behold.

Deep down, Wrath knew that he should apologize - but the fire inside his chest once again flared up at the sight of Pride's stone cold face. "Say something," he hissed, jaw clenched and fists balled tightly.

"What do you want me to say?" Pride asked calmly, his voice betraying no emotion.

"I don't give a shit. Just talk to me! Tell me what your fucking problem is!"

"I think you know very well what the problem is."

Wrath took a deep breath to calm himself down. He was acutely aware of the fact that their relationship would get irreparably damaged if he wasn't able to handle this situation - and he would not let that happen. Pride was more important than the fury smoldering in his chest. Much more important. "You're mad? Seriously? Is your ego so insignificant that you can't handle a bit of criticism? And you're calling yourself our leader - don't make me laugh."

Pride's knuckles turned white but his face remained emotionless.

"You really lost that bite you had back in hell, didn't you? Everyone was scared of you back there but now you're just like a human, trying so hard to fit in."

Wrath could see a muscle twitch in Pride's jaw.

"Cleaning after them, cooking for them, behaving like them - just like a maid. You should start wearing an apron like the little bitch you are."

Pride's dark eyes flashed a dangerously red colour.

Wrath sneered. _"Pa-the-tic."_

 

Pride moved so fast that Wrath didn't see it coming. After the world had stopped spinning, he found himself pressed against the wall, Pride caging his body from behind. He could feel the elder's hot breath hitting his neck. Blood immediately rushed between his legs.

"Safeword?" Pride growled into his ear.

"Diamond."

Pride didn't waste a single second to drag down Wrath's pants and underwear, letting them pool around his ankles.

"Arms next to your head. Spread your legs more."

Wrath did as he was told without complaint. A quiet whimper escaped him at the feeling of teeth burying into his clothed shoulder. Torso, hands and one side of his face pressed flush against the cold wall, he felt his excitement rising. Pride gently palmed his bare ass before he delivered a well-placed slap. Wrath gasped at the stinging sensation but forced his hips to stay still. The second slap wasn't as unexpected but equally as painful, the short wait in between causing his body to tense in anticipation.

"Do you think you deserve this spanking?" Pride's deep voice was as smooth as silk.

"I do." Wrath couldn't suppress another whimper when Pride's hand found the same spot for the third time.

"And why is that?" The fourth slap was delivered to the other ass cheek.

"Ah- because I misbehaved." Slap.

"Exactly." Slap. "You talked back to me." Slap. "You taunted me." Slap. "And you insulted me." Slap. "Is this how a good boy should behave, Jihoonie?"

The use of his human name sent another jolt of arousal through Wrath but he barely registered it. By now, his eyes had watered from the pain and his cock was rock-hard. He was panting against the wall, trying to prevent himself from crying out when Pride's hand connected with his heated, red skin once again. "N-no, I misbehaved and I'm sorry. _I'm so sorry, Seungcheol_ , for everything I said. I didn't mean to hurt you. Please forgive me." Apologizing to his long-time friend and lover brought so much relief that he could feel the tears overflowing, his sobs muffled by the wall in front of him.

Seungcheol gently turned him around and wrapped his arms around his shaking frame. "I accept your apology but I can't forgive you just yet." He kissed Jihoon's tears away and smiled at him. His smile was tinged with a hint of sadness.

The younger demon nodded with a little quirk of his lips. He had already expected that much. "I'm yours. Do whatever you want with me."

 

The leather belt was rough against the soft skin of Jihoon's wrists, rubbing against them in a way that was reassuring and exciting at the same time. His view was blocked with one of Seungcheol's many ties, heightening his other senses. He could feel the hard wooden floor beneath his knees, the cool air of the room caressing his naked skin and Seungcheol's hands in his hair, pulling him closer. He could hear the demon's breathing speed up when his cock hit the back of Jihoon's throat and the lewd squelching sound of his own saliva that coated the other's dick. Seungcheol thrust forward once more and Jihoon's moan was high-pitched and half-choked at the sensation.

He wanted to touch himself, he needed to, badly. But the belt prevented every movement, reddening his skin when he tried to free his hands. Seungcheol's fingers had wandered from Jihoon's hair to his chin, holding him in place. "Stop moving so much. You'll hurt yourself."

The younger immediately stopped pulling at his bonds, his focus now solely on the cock filling his mouth, stealing his breath and stifling his voice. After a few more rough thrusts, Seungcheol pulled out, making Jihoon whine in dissatisfaction. "Are you that desperate for my cock, baby?"

He nodded feverishly, lips still wet with saliva. "Yes!"

"Yes, what?"

"Yes, hyung."

"The next time you don't address me properly there will be punishment, Jihoonie. Now get up."

Trying to stand up with numb legs and arms tied behind his back was harder than Jihoon had anticipated, but somehow he managed. Standing naked in the middle of the room with his blindfold still in place, he wasn't sure what to do, so he waited. He could feel the air shift when Seungcheol moved around him.

"You're so pretty like this, baby, all tied up and helpless. I'd love to show you off to the other tenants..."

Heat pooled in Jihoon's groin at those words, his cheeks reddening. The thought was as scary as it was exciting. He bit his lip in nervous anticipation when Seungcheol's warm hands ran over his body, never quite where he wanted them to be.

"But I'm too greedy when it comes to you," the elder finished with a low sigh. "You are mine." Seungcheol's arms circled around Jihoon's waist from behind, trapping his bound wrists between their bodies. "I won't share you with anyone."

One of his hands found the younger's nipple, pinching the nub in a way that was painfully arousing, while the other finally closed around Jihoon's neglected erection. He left a second bite mark on Jihoon's shoulder while flicking his wrist in a way that made the younger's knees buckle.

"Stand straight, little one. You don't want to get punished, do you?"

"No, hyung." It took all of Jihoon's willpower to not slump to the floor at the onslaught of pleasure. He could feel the bite mark burn on his shoulder and tried to distract himself with it - but Seungcheol had spent centuries with his lover and knew all the right ways to drive him insane. The heat of an oncoming orgasm felt like lava inside his stomach, waiting to burst out and burn him alive. His breathing became frantic while he tried to stop himself.

"You're doing so well, baby," Seungcheol praised, his voice barely above a whisper. It grounded Jihoon a little, helping him to focus on other sensations; the sting of the leather belt on his wrists, soft lips kissing along his jawline, the silky fabric of the tie wetted by tears and sweat, Seungcheol's erection grinding against his ass.

Shortly before Jihoon could explode from the pressure, Seungcheol pulled back, leaving him once again alone in his darkness, every nerve in his body seemingly on fire. He heard rustling to his left and a warm and reassuring hand found his arm, moving him towards the soft surface of a bed. Sitting down, he felt Seungcheol loosening the belt around his wrists. His hands immediately started to prickle with the enhanced flow of blood.

Jihoon's first reaction was to reach for the blindfold but Seungcheol's strict voice stopped him at once. "Did I tell you to take it off?"

"No, hyung..."

"Exactly. Face down, ass up."

Jihoon submissively assumed position; his cheek pressed into the blanket, legs slightly parted and back arched beautifully. He could feel Seungcheol caressing his ass, the slight sting of the earlier spanking still noticeable on the reddened skin. He heard a quiet _click_ before something cold and wet came in contact with his entrance, making him jump at the unexpected feeling.

"Did you know that I brought your favourite toys, little one?" Seungcheol asked while spreading the lube.

His voice sounded casual but Jihoon could vividly imagine the sadistic smile on his face.

 

Jihoon was sure that he was going to go insane in the next few minutes.

His arms were once again tied, this time against the headrest of the bed, the immediate result of him trying to touch his dick to get at least some sort of relief. He was gagged with a second tie, bundled up and shoved between his teeth, because he had been too loud for Seungcheol's liking, who was still mindful of the other tenants. A vibrator was shoved deep inside of him, buzzing against his prostate in an agonizing rhythm while a cockring successfully denied his relief.

Tears were streaming down his face at the painful pleasure of his third dry orgasm, the blindfold already completely soaked, his body a trembling mess and his muffled moans the only sound in the room.

Jihoon felt himself drowning, sensations and emotions slowly overpowering him. Tear after tear streamed down his face.

Before he could lose himself, he heard the smooth voice that anchored him to reality. "Don't give up yet, love. It's almost over."

Soft, cool skin came in contact with his heated body, calming the onslaught of emotions and leaving nothing but serenity.

 

Seungcheol turned off the toy and pulled it out, discarding it next to the bed. Tracing the lines he knew better than anyone else, he took in the younger's body as a whole.

Jihoon's small hands were red, wrapped tightly around the constraints binding him to the bed. The belts had left marks on the sensitive skin of his wrists and Seungcheol took a mental note to look after them later. The demon's hair was a mess - but it made him look even better - and his face was wet with tears, nose and cheeks tinted pink and rosy lips puffy around the gag.

Seungcheol couldn't help but smile; his darling always looked adorable in this state.

Jihoon's shoulders were littered with bite marks, some of them only slight reddish imprints, the others already bruising. The rest of his body was blemish free like fresh snow - at least the front. Seungcheol had left his handprints on Jihoon's cute round ass. The other exception was the younger's overly sensitive deep red erection, caged by the silvery cockring.

Watching the other calm down under his gentle touches gave Seungcheol an intense feeling of content, a feeling he could not achieve from anything else in this world. He knew that it was a similar case for Jihoon: the only time the demon of anger felt completely tranquil and at peace was after they had played together.

They needed each other to function.

 

Jihoon felt the gag getting pulled out of his mouth, nimble fingers working on the knot of his blindfold.

"Close your eyes, love; it's too bright for you otherwise."

He licked his lips and closed his eyes, just in time to feel the wet fabric slide over his equally wet cheeks. Gentle hands cradled his face and soft lips caught his own, a familiar tongue slipping into his mouth. He sighed in content, too drained to react much but enjoying the loving attention nonetheless. When the elder pulled back to loosen his restraints, he finally opened his eyes, taking in the sight of Seungcheol's naked body leaning over him.

He was beautiful.

The demon of pride gathered him in his arms and carefully laid him on the blanket before moving between his legs. While spreading lube on his erection, Seungcheol kissed Jihoon once more before pushing into his tight heat, holding the younger close. It didn't take him long to find a smooth rhythm that satisfied them both, quiet moans filling the bedroom, sometimes muffled by gentle kisses.

Seungcheol finally took off the cockring and Jihoon couldn't hold himself back any longer, biting into the elder's shoulder to stop himself from crying out. Seungcheol came shortly after, almost collapsing on top of the smaller demon.

 

They were cuddled up in the unused bed after wiping themselves down and after Pride had insisted on thoroughly checking all the marks he had left.

"I should've been more careful. Why do you always have to taunt me before we have sex?" he whispered, face buried in the younger's hair.

"You're even hotter when you're angry," Wrath mumbled sleepily and snuggled even closer. Pride couldn't help but blush.

 


	14. Chapter XI

 

Waking up with Wrath still next to him was a rare treat since the younger tended to get up early to take a bath after their nightly activities. Therefore Pride was pleasantly surprised when he opened his eyes and found the smaller body securely snuggled into his side, their legs entwined. Perhaps it was because last night's session had exhausted Wrath more than usual after the additional stress of coming to the human realm, but he was so deeply asleep that he didn't even twitch when Pride wrapped his arms around him. With feathery touches, Pride traced the marks he had left on the porcelain skin of the younger demon's shoulders.

Wrath would surely murder him after seeing himself in the mirror.

 

Greed's morning started - once again - with a fight. He had already been in a bad mood after last night's squabble with Envy but his mood only worsened when he got woken up by terrible screeching sounds coming from the other demon's new phone. "God, what is that? Turn it off, I want to sleep."

"Just ignore it. I don't know how to turn it off and I'm beating my high score right now," Envy said, eyes not leaving the screen.

For the sake of companionship, Greed tried to go back to sleep - but his already frazzled nerves frayed more with each resounding _crash_ coming from the little device. "Seungkwan, turn it off now or I'll throw it out of the window," he finally snarled.

"Oh, stop being whiny," came the unimpressed response.

Greed gritted his teeth, burying his head under his pillow. After ten painful minutes, he couldn't stand it anymore.

 

Wrath's peaceful sleep was - once again - disturbed by a loud noise in the room next to his. Groaning, he pressed his face into Pride's chest, trying to ignore the idiot couple but failing miserably. He could feel his anger rising and not even the elder's gentle fingers on his scalp could massage the oncoming headache away. "What is it this time?" he muttered, deeply inhaling Pride's natural scent to calm himself down.

"Not sure but I think it's related to a phone. At least Seungkwan was screaming about that a few minutes ago. Let's just let Jeonghan handle them. I'm too lazy to get up and the humans aren't home anyway."

Wrath rolled onto his back and pulled the blanket up to his nose. "We can't let them go on like this though. I'll self-destruct if I get woken up by their fights every other morning."

Pride smiled at his lover's cuteness and suppressed the urge to ruffle the hair that peeked out from under the blanket. Instead, he scooted a bit closer and wrapped his arms around the smaller demon again.

"Stop being so clingy; you're heavy," Wrath immediately complained, wiggling around to free himself.

"You love it, Jihoonie." Pride sent him a suggestive smirk that immediately brought out Wrath's deadly glare. "And you should keep calling me 'hyung'. I really like it."

"Keep dreaming, asshat."

 

Gluttony was worried. He had woken up from the ruckus his two neighbours made, only to find that he was alone in his room. That wouldn't have unsettled him if not for the small fact that his roommate was Sloth - forever-sleeping-and-preferably-never-the-bed-leaving Sloth. The same Sloth who only moved a muscle before 11 am if the house was on fire (and even then he'd probably wait for the others to solve the problem first). Right now the clock read 9:23, therefore his missing roommate was a valid concern. Gluttony was not quite sure what the course of action for this uncommon scenario was: was he supposed to search for Sloth or should he alarm the other demons first?

The decision was taken off his shoulders by even more screaming from the neighbouring room and something that sounded suspiciously like breaking glass.

Searching for Sloth by himself didn't seem so bad suddenly.

 

He wasn't as hard to find as Gluttony had imagined. Instead, he was sitting in the silence of the empty kitchen with his reading glasses perched on top of his nose and a cup of coffee in front of him. Gluttony gawked until Sloth set down the newspaper he had been reading and shot him a quizzical look. "Is there a problem?"

"Yes. You're _awake_."

Sloth sent him an amused smile. "That's true. Do you want coffee? Jisoo showed me how to use the coffee machine earlier; it's pretty amazing."

Gluttony blinked. "Yes. _Why_ are you awake?"

"I had some things to discuss with Jisoo, so I had to wake up early to catch him before he fled- left I mean," Sloth said while busying himself with the machine.

"If it makes you wake up early, it has to be important," Gluttony stated, his eyebrows raised sceptically.

"Well, it's nothing major but he promised to talk to us tomorrow since he's busy with work today." Sloth handed Gluttony his mug and returned to his newspaper while the latter began to prepare breakfast with a shrug of his shoulders.

 

Apart from the rough start, the day progressed rather quietly: Greed and Envy were avoiding each other, Gluttony cooked lunch and prepared a list for the upcoming grocery shopping, Sloth slept on the couch and Pride, who had found out how to use the DVD player, was binge watching Dr. House, occasionally annoying Wrath with a random diagnosis ("Did you know that moles can be the first sign of skin cancer? Maybe you should get yourself checked. I know you have one on your d-mmph!" This was the day Pride found out that death by suffocating with a sofa cushion was a very real threat).

 

The first human to return home on this beautiful Tuesday afternoon was Wonwoo, who almost stepped on Envy's sprawled out body when he entered the living room. "Where is Mingyu?" he asked no one in particular while taking off his jacket. "We're supposed to go grocery shopping together."

"Good luck. He's a dick when it comes to shopping," Envy mumbled, too distracted with his phone to notice the reprimanding look Pride shot him.

"He's in his room, the one in the middle," Wrath replied instead, getting a small smile of gratitude in return. "But don't be surprised: he's sulking."

"Oh, why?"

"He tried to throw Seungkwan's phone out of the window and Seungcheol lectured him for it afterwards." The small demon couldn't suppress a grin from spreading on his face.

 

Greed was stretched out on his bed, face buried in his pillow and - well, sulking. He wouldn't call it sulking though, more like contemplating deeply about the unfairness that was the world, his life and Seungcheol.

His angry thoughts got interrupted by a knock on the door but he was definitely not in the mood for any peace offerings or Sloth's futile attempts to make him see reason. "Leave me alone," he grumped. The person outside his door knocked again, more insistently this time. Greed buried his head under his pillow again. "Go away!" He could hear the door opening and soon felt a hand on his back, so he closed his eyes and pretended to be dead - like the mature adult that he was.

"Do you always react like this when you feel wronged?" an amused and completely unexpected voice asked.

Greed's eyes immediately flew open and he turned around so fast, he got tangled in his sheets. In front of him sat Wonwoo, sporting his trademark little smile (somehow it resembled a smirk at the moment). Greed flushed deep red and his heart seemed to jump into his throat. "What are you doing here?" he asked while inconspicuously trying to disentangle his legs.

"We're supposed to go grocery shopping together. Did you forget about that already?" Wonwoo too began to pull on the sheets, working much more efficiently than the flustered demon.

"That was today?!" he blurted, his cheeks burning even brighter. "Uh, sure, just give me a minute to change my shirt."

 

While Wonwoo waited downstairs, Greed rushed through his room, trying on at least three different outfits before reminding himself that this was, in fact, not a date. After a moment of contemplation, he finally decided on a black shirt combined with a dark blue button up that he left open (sleeves rolled up to show off his forearms - not that he would ever admit that).

Running a nervous hand through his hair, he made his way downstairs. His heart was beating unreasonably fast when Wonwoo gave him a once-over and smiled approvingly.

 

"So, why did you try to throw Seungkwan's phone out of the window?" Wonwoo asked casually while reading the ingredients on a pack of instant noodles.

"He wouldn't stop making noise when I asked him to," Greed answered, just as casually. He was itching to take a closer look at the sales section of the supermarket (and buy everything there) but he also wanted to stay as close to the human as possible - and preferably not appear like a total freak while doing so.

"You two seem to fight quite often. Do you not get along? I thought the six of you were really close friends."

"We _are_ close. It's just that we're not used to sharing a room and especially Seungkwan's and my personalities kinda clash sometimes. Mainly when it comes to our belongings," Greed said with a quiet sigh and crossed off bread from Gluttony's shopping list.

"So the problem is proximity?" Wonwoo compared two bottles of cooking oil, deciding on the cheaper one.

Greed tried to do the same thing with several cans of tuna and ended up sneaking all of them in the shopping cart. "I guess? Where we came from, we've always had a lot of space for ourselves."

Wonwoo turned towards him, holding a bunch of carrots. "Well, do you want to try living with me then? I don't have a roommate and I think we'd get along just fine."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please check out my newest story [Unit S](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19332370/chapters/45987103)~ :)


	15. Chapter XII

 

Greed felt like he was floating, despite the heavy bags he was carrying from Wonwoo's car to the kitchen. The rest of their shopping trip had gone by in a daze. He had been so distracted by the prospect of sharing a room with Wonwoo that he hadn't even bought a single item on sale.

He had agreed to Wonwoo's offer - nonchalantly, of course, no need to seem overeager (but based on the human's smirk, he hadn't been as convincing as he had thought) - and had continued shopping as if his major crush hadn't just asked him to move in with him.

After dropping off all the bags under Gluttony's watchful eyes, he immediately rushed to his room to start packing. Envy almost fell off his bed when he flung open the door and sprinted towards his dresser. "What's going on? Are we getting attacked or something?"

Greed turned to his former (!) roommate with such a smug grin, it looked downright dirty. The other demon warily moved away from him at that sight. "I'm going to live with Wonwoo. He offered me the free bed in his room."

"That's why you're so happy? You're leaving and I have a room all for myself?" Envy asked, lifting a sceptical eyebrow.

"Exactly!"

"Wow. Let me help you pack your stuff, so I can get rid of you faster!"

Not even that comment could dampen Greed's brilliant mood.

 

It was Greed's first time in Wonwoo's room and the degree of cleanliness made him somewhat nervous. The demon wasn't a slob but he wasn't the tidiest person either, probably just a bit above average. It had never been a problem in hell, where lower demons had served them, but now, in front of his crush, Greed began to wonder whether he was up tp Wonwoo's standard.

His new roommate greeted him with a friendly smile (Greed's heart skipped a beat) and took a box filled with the demon's clothes to place them on his new bed. If it had been anyone but Wonwoo, they would have lost their hands for laying them on his possessions - but since it was Wonwoo, Greed only flushed and promised himself to never wear them again. He would keep them in a safe place instead as memorabilia.

"It's my first time sharing a room since I've moved in here. Let me know if I do anything that makes you uncomfortable, okay?"

"Y-yes, you too. Uhm, I mean you too should talk to me if something bothers you," Greed stuttered, his nervousness getting the best of him.

"Relax, I won't bite you," Wonwoo said. His smile had long since turned into a smirk again at the demon's flustered reactions.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Greed took three deep breaths. It helped a little.

"Want me to help you unpack?"

"Yes, that'd be nice." More memorabilia to cherish.

 

While they slowly unpacked Greed's many boxes, the atmosphere gradually got lighter and more relaxed. Wonwoo was a caring and somewhat snarky guy behind the quiet exterior he usually displayed in front of others, Greed noticed. The fact that he showed that side of his after only about an hour of sharing the room made Greed feel all tingly inside. He wanted to keep this Wonwoo, the caring one with the sharp tongue, all to himself.

"You really have a lot of stuff," Wonwoo stated after unpacking the fourth bag of clothes.

Greed blushed, suddenly a little embarrassed about his tendency to take everything he could get his hands on. What if Wonwoo thought that he was weird? "Yeah, I like to collect stuff," he mumbled, still elbow-deep in a box filled with pens and other stationery.

His roommate only smiled before he turned to the next box and tried to lift it onto the bed. "Woah. Why is this one so heavy?"

"Huh?" Greed looked up but before he could say anything else, the human had already opened the box.

Wonwoo's eyes widened when he found multiple glittering jewels as well as several bars of gold. "Are those real?!"

"Obviously, " the demon answered with disdain. A question like that bordered on an insult - but it was Wonwoo, of course Greed forgave him. "Why would I have fake ones?"

Wonwoo stared at him in pure disbelief. "How could you afford this? They must be worth millions of won."

"Uhh... I kinda... inherited them?" Greed was flustered once again. He normally was a good liar, probably even better than just 'good' (he was the demon of greed after all - which included expertise in the arts of bargaining, scamming and gambling), but when it came to his new roommate, he was completely helpless.

"And you carry them around in a cardboard box instead of keeping them somewhere safe because...?"

"Eh, I like to keep my belongings close and I think they're the safest at my side anyway. And, apart from you and my friends, nobody knows about it anyway. I'll just assume that you won't rob me," Greed said, a little grin playing on his lips.

Wonwoo rolled his eyes. "Idiot. Let's put them somewhere where they're not on display." They decided that the closet was a good enough hiding place.

 

Somehow Gluttony didn't look too happy while serving dinner (he and Seokmin had taken over cooking duty from Envy and Chan, who were nearly as useless in the kitchen as Wrath and Pride). The group was a bit smaller than usual, with Jisoo, Minghao and Jun missing, but the amount of food was still gigantic.

Hansol eyed the salad, stew and casserole placed on the table. "Why's there so much tuna in the food today?" he dared to ask.

"Because _someone_ bought so much tuna that it will keep us fed for the next year." 

Greed ducked his head and pretended not to notice Gluttony's glare in his direction. Wonwoo next to him tried hard not to grin at the other's misfortune, earning himself a poke in the ribs with Greed's elbow.

"I'm living alone now," Envy suddenly stated. Everyone looked at him.

"Why? Did Mingyu move to the sofa because you snore too much?" Wrath asked.

Envy shot him a very sour look while the other tenants laughed. "Of course not, idiot," he huffed and kept quiet afterwards.

"I heard that they fought quite often, so I offered Mingyu my room," Wonwoo explained instead.

"Wow, you've never offered it to me even though I fought with Seokmin all the time in the beginning. Way to play favourites," Hansol grumbled, crossing his arms. Wonwoo's ears turned red while Seokmin smacked the back of Hansol's head.

 

Greed couldn't stop smiling after Hansol's revelation during dinner. 

"You better wipe that grin off your face or I'll send you back to your original room," Wonwoo said while opening the door to their room.

"Aw, you wouldn't do that - you like me too much." Greed shot him a flirty wink which made Wonwoo blush once again.

He poked the demon's stomach, eliciting a squeak at the unexpected touch. "Where's the stuttering and embarrassed Mingyu from earlier? I kinda miss him." 

Greed only stuck his tongue out at the other and busied himself with putting sheets on his new bed. 

After both of them had gotten ready for the night, they lay in the darkness and talked about whatever random things they could come up with. Before Greed drifted off to sleep, he decided that this day had been one of the best days in his existence.

 

Envy couldn't sleep. He had gotten used to the prospect of being mortal by now, but being alone in his room somehow made the thought of dying scarier again. He hadn't necessarily enjoyed to share a room but at least Greed's gentle breathing at night had always lulled him to sleep. After a long while of tossing and turning, he decided to get himself a glass of warm milk.

Securely wrapped in his fluffy bathrobe, the demon arrived in the kitchen. In the dim light of the opened fridge, he filled his mug until it almost overflowed and waddled to the microwave. Seokmin had shown him how to use it but he still felt a little unsure while he pressed the buttons. But before he could turn it on, a sound on the stairs forced him to stop. 

Footsteps. Suspiciously slow and quiet footsteps. 

Envy's fingers wrapped around the handle of a heavy cast iron pan. This time he wouldn't make the mistake of hitting too lightly. 

Carefully he crept towards the kitchen door, his soft slippers masking his steps. He took a peek. 

Someone was sneaking down the hallway, trying to be extra quiet. But as soon as they passed the window, Envy recognized the person. Without a second thought, he flung open the door and jumped in front of obviously very startled Hansol. "You! Where are you sneaking off to again?!"

"Seungkwan! What the hell?! Why are you always attacking me in the middle of the night?" Hansol whisper-shouted, hand placed over his racing heart.

"Because you're being awfully suspicious, my friend," Envy replied while examining his outfit. The human was wearing a parka and sneakers. With a grimace, Hansol tried to move past him - but the demon was having none of it. "Where are you going?"

The human tried to free his arm from Envy's iron grip but ultimately failed. "What's it to you?" he finally asked, giving up.

"You're my precious housemate. Of course it matters if you're doing shady business. You might get hurt," Envy declared with an uncharacteristically serious expression on his face.

"Oh my god. What shady business. I'm just going to the cyber cafe to play some games because my computer sucks," Hansol grumbled but a small blush spread on his cheeks due to the other's concern. "I don't have time during the day and I didn't want anyone to tease me for going, so I secretly went at night instead."

"Cyber cafe? Games? That sounds amazing! Can I come too?" Envy was immediately enthralled.

"Uh.. sure if you want to? You need to get dressed and bring some money though."

"Okay, wait here! I'll be back in a minute!"

The demon hurried back to his room to throw on some clothes, taking the money Greed had given him during yesterday's shopping trip. He was excited, although he wasn't sure whether it was because he would get to use an actual computer or because Hansol would have to teach him how to use it. 

Without a sound, Envy crept back into the hallway. To his surprise, he saw Jisoo opening a door and vanishing into the darkness behind it. "Huh? Why is he visiting them in the middle of the night?" the demon mumbled to himself before he decided that he had more important matters to think about. Shaking his head, he made his way towards Hansol.


	16. Lust IV - Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to upload this chapter split into two parts since most people want to know more about Lust's human but not everyone is comfortable with smut :)
> 
> So nothing [M]-rated here~

 

It had been a long and annoying day at work. Several clients had called to complain and, to top it all off, his boss had scolded him for being distracted. A puny human scolding a demon. If it wasn't for the fact that he couldn't blow his cover, he would have killed off the nagging nuisance a long time ago.

Lust scrubbed his skin with more force than necessary in a futile attempt to wash off his frustration. The hot, soapy water in the bathtub was soothing but it wasn't enough to calm him down.

He was angry. Angry at his manager, at the clients, at the fact that he, a demon prince, needed to work a shitty sales job to pay rent. And - the main reason for his bad mood - because Jeonghan was giving him neither attention nor a freaking chance. When the demon had cornered him this morning, he had gotten his hopes up - only to be told that he should reveal himself to the other demons as well. And when he had once again tried to coax Sloth into sex, the demon had _ignored_ him.

Lust angrily massaged shampoo into his hair.

Nobody ignored the demon of desire. Especially not someone who had piqued his interest. He wouldn't allow Jeonghan to ignore him. Although the demon had withstood his attempts to seduce him, he wouldn't give up. Lust always got what he wanted in the end.

But it was late already. Sloth was probably asleep (and he wasn't stupid enough to try to wake him), so he had to find someone else to help him relax.

While rinsing out the shampoo, Lust decided that he couldn't be bothered with going out tonight; he was too tired and it was cold outside anyway.

 

When Lust returned to his room, Chan was already in bed, clad in his Mickey Mouse pyjamas. The demon couldn't stop a smile from blooming on his lips; the child was just too adorable. He ruffled his hair (very much to Chan's displeasure) and pulled up his blanket, properly tucking him in. After some complaints about how he was not a baby that needed to be mothered, the youngest tenant snuggled into his sheets and fell asleep while Lust kept rubbing his back.

Stretching, the demon returned to his own bed to wait for a few more hours until he could make his move.

 

When his phone displayed 2 am, Lust decided that it was late enough to go. Sneaking out of his room as silently as possible to not wake Chan, he moved down the dimly lit hallway - too preoccupied with his own thoughts to notice Envy. Lust opened the door of the room he had visited on numerous nights and slipped in, closing it behind him without a sound. Darkness enveloped him. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust but he knew his way around by heart anyway.

As usual, he woke up his pet by stroking his cheek and, as usual, he awoke with a quiet groan, trying to peer through the darkness.

"Wow, your visits are getting more and more frequent," the human whispered in his raspy morning voice. "Did your other lovers ditch you?"

What a preposterous question. Instead of answering, Lust flicked his forehead, making him wince.

"Let's move to the living room," his pet proposed quietly while rubbing the sore spot with a grimace.

The demon nodded his agreement and stretched out his hand to help him get up. The gesture earned him a small smile, almost hidden in the darkness. Just when the human was about to climb out of his bed, the sound of someone stirring on the other side of the room caused them to freeze.

"Wha-?" This night it was Lust who got cut off by a kiss. Heat flooded his body at the unexpected contact. Immediately he returned the favour, his tongue running over plush lips, noses rubbing against each other in the darkness. He pulled the human on his lap, not even caring about the bothersome roommate anymore. For a few seconds, the only sounds audible were the rustling of clothes and their heavy breathing - and then the bedside lamp across the room turned on with a _click_.

 

Greed stared in shock at Jisoo and Wonwoo, wrapped into each other's arms on his roommate's bed. He wasn't sure whether they hadn't realized that he had turned on the light or if they simply didn't care, but he could see the openmouthed kiss they were sharing with perfect clarity.

A very conflicted emotion arose in his chest. On one hand, he couldn't deny the feeling of heartbreak at seeing Wonwoo kiss someone else, but on the other hand, he was incredibly attracted to both Jisoo and Wonwoo - and watching them make out in front of him made his pyjama pants grow tight at an alarming rate.

His thoughts trailed off as soon as Jisoo moved his attention to Wonwoo's throat - sending Greed a little wink in the process - and started to suck, eliciting quiet moans from the human that filled Greed's head until there was nothing else left.

After a long moment of sweet torture, Jisoo stopped and gave both Wonwoo and Greed a chance to clear their thoughts.

It took a few seconds until Greed was confident that he could form a coherent sentence again. "What... What's going on? Are you a couple?" he finally asked, his voice somewhat raspy. He wasn't quite sure whether he wanted to hear the answers to those questions.

"Hm, I wouldn't call it couple. It's a relationship based on mutual benefits," Jisoo said with his usual angelic smile in place. It was as blinding as always.

Seeing Greed's confused expression, Wonwoo stated, "We're fuckbuddies."

Greed choked at his unexpected bluntness. A flush began to crawl up his neck.

"It's been, what? Two years now?"

"One and a half," Jisoo corrected. "Pretty much since I moved in. But you're the first one to find out, Mingyu," he finished.

"Yeah... Congratulations to me, huh?" Greed mumbled, making the couple laugh.

Jisoo eyed the demon for a moment before he shrugged, one hand absentmindedly playing with Wonwoo's dark hair. "I've actually never thought about the possibility of a roommate popping up. So what do we do now? Should we leave and you forget about ever seeing us, or will you join in?" he asked, his lips stretched into a smile much too innocent to match his words.

Greed wasn't sure whether he had heard correctly or if that had just been a figment of his imagination. Had pure and virtuous Hong Jisoo just offered him to...? He was probably still dreaming. He pinched himself just to make sure. The pain made him wince.

Wonwoo grinned. "Yeah, he offered a threesome. Are you in?"

"But- but- that doesn't make any sense! You're, like, the last person I would have expected something like this from, Jisoo!" Greed was completely lost by now, struggling to comprehend the situation at hand. Maybe everything was some sort of elaborate prank?

At his panicked expression, Wonwoo actually started laughing. The demon could only stare in wonder. It was the first time he had seen Wonwoo laugh openly like this and boy, what a sight.

"Oh god, I know you're a bit clueless but seriously, how can you not recognize what he is?" Wonwoo gasped in between bouts of laughter. Jisoo had also started to chuckle and Greed's face flushed even more. "He's probably the least innocent in this house."

"What are you talking about? What's going on?" In desperate need of an explanation, Greed looked to Jisoo but the other male only kept watching him, his hands still tangled into the human's hair.

Once he had finally stopped laughing, Wonwoo took it upon himself to enlighten the confused demon. "I guess it's your first official meeting." He cleared his throat, amusement sparkling in his eyes, before he said, "Well, then let me introduce you to your fellow demon: Lust."


	17. Lust IV - Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The usual Lust warnings, also: Threesome ahead

 

It was not like Greed hadn't had his fair share of sexual experiences so far (he was a handsome demon with needs after all), but he'd never had something quite like this.

From the moment he had agreed to their offer, both Jisoo and Wonwoo couldn't seem to stop themselves from touching every little part of his body. They had moved towards his bed like predators closing in on their prey, two pairs of hungry eyes already raking over his body. And Greed was completely certain that nothing before had ever turned him on as much as Wonwoo smirking and Jisoo licking his lips in anticipation.

 

Therefore by now he was lying on his back, moaning helplessly while Jisoo sucked marks into his chest and Wonwoo gave his sensitive inner thighs the same treatment, occasionally sneaking in a little bite. He was the only one completely naked, the other two still mostly dressed, and it was as arousing as it was maddening. Greed was used to being in control while having sex - something neither Lust nor his new roommate seemed to particularly agree with.

A sharp suck at his thigh made him throw his head back at the pleasure shooting directly into his groin and the sting of pain that accompanied it. Closing his eyes, he bit his lip to suppress his loud groan. His fingers dug even further into the sheets when Jisoo began to playfully run his hands over his chest. The feeling of two people touching him was overwhelming. His mind felt like it had split apart, acutely aware of every new sensation on his skin and contemplating the differences between them while a smaller part dimly registered his burning arousal. Jisoo's hands were a little bit softer, but Wonwoo's hands were warmer. Wonwoo liked to use his teeth, Jisoo preferred to use his tongue. Jisoo's lips felt more demanding but Wonwoo's lips excited him on an entirely different level...

Feeling the touches on his body vanish, he opened his eyes, only to be greeted by the sight of Wonwoo still kneeling between his legs but kissing his way down Jisoo's abs towards his low riding sweatpants. Jisoo took them off in a single elegant movement and Greed swallowed at the fact that he hadn't been wearing underwear. His roommate didn't look the least bit surprised; instead, Wonwoo bent down even lower, draping his still fully clothed body over Greed's thigh to reach Jisoo's half-hard erection. He coaxed it to full size with small licks, a sight that made Greed feel somewhat lightheaded but which also evoked a sting of jealousy in his chest.

By now he could feel Jisoo's power rising, slowly filling the room and brushing over his bare skin in waves. It was carnal desire in its purest form and it matched the current expression on Jisoo's usually angelic face all too well. Without the chance to resist, Greed let himself drown in it.

 

Lust was enjoying himself. It was fun to play with humans but a demon was something new and exciting. Additionally, Mingyu was also rather cute and willing, something he wouldn't have expected after their first meeting. But especially in Wonwoo's experienced hands, Greed seemed to completely surrender to his desires.

Lust knew Wonwoo well, therefore he also knew that the possessive human was only willing to share the demon because he was aware that Lust had absolutely no romantic interest in Greed. He was only in for the pleasure. This was also the reason why Lust held himself back tonight: He was a demon, yes, but he wasn't an asshole. He wouldn't fuck the crush of his pet, especially not in front of him. 

Oral-sex was an entirely different matter though.

 

Sweat made Mingyu's dark locks stick to his face, a small drop slowly crawling its way down his jaw. Lust smiled and wiped it away, brushing the strands of hair away from Greed's forehead in the process. He looked good with his lips wrapped around his cock; it suited him well. Lust lightly tapped the demon's cheek to get him to focus; as nice as his mouth felt, it felt even better when the other actually put in some effort. Minguy's eyes focused back on his face and he began to bop his head with difficulty. Concentrating on the task at hand was obviously hard for him at this very moment. Lust shared a smile with Wonwoo, who was standing behind Minguy at the edge of the bed, steadily thrusting into him, holding his waist in place.

 

Greed's arms buckled when his prostate was hit and only Jisoos's hands on his shoulders stopped him from completely crumbling to the sheets. His whine got choked off by the dick in his mouth and the vibrations made Lust groan above him.

"Fuck. Do that again Wonwoo."

"With pleasure." 

Greed could hear the smirk in his roommate's deep voice. The grip on his waist tightened and the next thrust was hard enough to drive Greed nose-first into the demon's groin. Jisoo moaned again while Greed choked slightly at the feeling of the cock sliding down his throat.

Wonwoo's movements got harsher; his thrusts lost their calm pace and turned more erratic. Unbearable heat ran through the demon at the feeling. Jisoo started thrusting as well and Greed, caught between them, wasn't sure how to handle the overwhelming stimulation.

As soon as Wonwoo wrapped a hand around his leaking dick, he came with a low moan, vision turning white for a moment, and a few seconds later, Jisoo and Wonwoo followed suit almost simultaneously. 

Greed finally collapsed onto the bed. His body felt like jelly. Everything seemed a little fuzzy - but he was still awake enough to be aware of Jisoo's fingers in his hair and Wonwoo's heated skin that was pressing against his back.

 

"Of course it was you. I should've known," an exasperated voice sounded from the room's entrance. The whole scene seemed to freeze at the unexpected visitor.

"Jeonghan!" All tiredness gone in an instant, Greed hastily sat up to throw a blanket over their naked bodies. But Sloth's eyes were focused solely on Lust.

Jisoo had paled at the sight of the other demon. Pulling back from Wonwoo and Greed, he stuttered, "I- I just-, it's not what it looks like! I'm not forcing anyone here!"

Arms crossed, Jeonghan sighed and leaned against the doorframe. His blond hair was shimmering in the light. "I know, idiot. I can feel when you use your abilities," he said, his tone bored. "But you were too god-damn loud. Seriously, I had to tranquillize the other tenants otherwise you would've had plenty of visitors already." Their embarrassed faces seemed to bring him great joy and he smirked while he strolled into the room, not bothering to close the door. "I was planning to go back to sleep... but now that I think about it, I should punish you a little for waking me up, shouldn't I?" His dark eyes flashed while his gaze kept wandering over the exposed skin of his housemates.

 

Sloth didn't show much interest in either Wonwoo or Greed, which suited them just fine. Wrapped into Greed's blanket and all snuggled up, they watched as Jeonghan closed in on Jisoo. This time around, Lust was the prey.

 

Jisoo's moans distracted Greed from Wonwoo's lips on his collarbone and the hand that was caressing his hip below the blanket. He couldn't help but look over to the other couple and the sight of the blissed-out expression on Jisoo's face while Jeonghan pounded into him was enough to make Greed feel hot all over again. 

A nip at his throat made him focus back on Wonwoo, who was watching him with a slight smile. 

"You shouldn't get distracted by other men while I'm next to you. I'm a jealous human." 

Greed couldn't help but blush, burying his face into Wonwoo's hair to hide it. It was hard to believe that all of this was reality. He still expected to suddenly wake up in the room he had shared with Envy.

His new roommate laughed and, after pulling back a little, kissed his reddened cheek. "Hey. Are you up for a second round?"


	18. Chapter XIII

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I case you skipped it: Lust IV Part 1 was smut-free :)

 

Lust had taken Wednesday off to have time for the explanation Jeonghan had forced him into giving the morning before. (Sloth had called it 'convincing', but Lust was pretty sure that threatening someone with an untimely death while smiling into their face counted as using force.)

After the humiliating rejection on Monday evening, Lust had assumed that the demon was simply not interested in him - which was okay, really (it really wasn't). Apparently, he couldn't change it even if he tried since Jeonghan had seemed completely immune to his attempt to seduce him. 

But now, after Sloth's unexpected participation in their little nightly party, the situation had gotten quite confusing. Why had Jeonghan joined in if he wasn't interested? And why had he only gone after Lust?

While sitting in the living room, waiting for the other demons to crawl out of their beds, the demon contemplated how to approach Sloth further. Should he try to seduce him again? Tease him with what had happened the night before? That didn't seem like the brightest idea - he really didn't have a death wish. Maybe ignoring Jeonghan would bother him enough to finally pay proper attention to him? But ignoring the demon was somewhat impossible when Lust was supposed to answer Sloth's questions once the other demons had gathered.

He finally decided to wait and see whether Jeonghan would make the first move. Until then, he would just be his usual Jisoo-self. Satisfied with the conclusion, he crossed his legs, tapping his fingers on the armrest of the couch.

 

Over thirty minutes later, he was still waiting. Nothing indicated even the slightest movement upstairs. Annoyed beyond belief, he made his way towards the bedrooms to personally gather the demons.

Starting in the back, he knocked at Seungcheol's door before opening it quietly. The sun illuminated the sleeping demon, mouth agape and arm dangling off the side of the bed. A little bit of drool had darkened the fabric of his pillow. Lust stared for a few dumbstruck seconds. This was supposed to be their fearsome leader? Pathetic.

Rustling to his right made Lust turn towards Jihoon, who had just woken up. He looked oddly adorable with his sweater paws and bed hair, a stark contrast to his usual angry self. The sight soothed Lust's burning annoyance a little. He mustered his brightest Jisoo-smile and chirped, "Good morning! We were supposed to meet 30 minutes ago; could you _please_ wake up Seungcheol and come downstairs?"

Jihoon only nodded and rubbed his eyes, obviously too tired for words. Lust watched as he climbed out of bed and trudged over to Seungcheol with his pillow tightly clasped in his hand. It hit the elder square in the face, making him flail and almost fall out of bed in surprise. "Hey, dumbass! You were supposed to wake me up 45 minutes ago."

Lust left the room with a grin, considerably less annoyed than when he had entered it.

 

Seungkwan was already awake but once again too engrossed in his phone to actually notice his surroundings. Lust had to forcibly remove the small device before the demon agreed to go downstairs to get it back.

 

Next, Lust moved to Mingyu's new room. Opening the door, he found Mingyu and Wonwoo curled into each other on the latter's bed, still very much asleep. Naked skin was peaking out from under the blanket they had used to haphazardly cover themselves. Lust's eyes wandered over the familiar expanse of Wonwoo's chest and over Mingyu's long, muscular legs. After admiring the sight for a while (and trying to ignore the building heat in his neither regions), he poked the human's side, making him groan and open an eye. "What?"

"Why are you not at university, young man?" Lust, of course, knew better than anyone why the couple was tired. He was the number one reason for it after all.

Wonwoo closed his eye again and pulled Mingyu closer, nuzzling his hair while he mumbled, "Afternoon classes. Leave me alone, gramps."

"Alright then, keep sleeping." The demon smirked inwardly. He knew exactly how to wake the human up. "But I'll have to abduct loverboy here for a while."

Wonwoo immediately opened his eyes again (both of them this time) and glared at him. "What for?"

Lust couldn't suppress his grin any longer at the overprotective reaction. He loved teasing him. It would be difficult to let him go. "Don't get your panties in a knot, sweetheart; it's just a talk with the other demons. You can join too. You know about us anyway."

Wonwoo shooed him out of the room so he could wake up his new lover by himself.

 

The last room was Jeonghan's and cold fear ran through Lust at the thought of waking the other demon up. He would tear him apart - especially since Lust knew how little sleep Sloth had gotten last night. The demon fidgeted in front of the door for quite a few minutes, fiddling with his shirt, repeating what he was going to say over and over again (Sloth couldn't blame him; _he_ had been the one wanting answers! It hadn't been Lust's idea! He was innocent!), until said door nearly hit him in the face.

"Your anxiety alone is enough to keep me awake. Go downstairs, I'll get Soonyoung." 

Sloth closed the door again.

 

Fifteen minutes later, the demons (and Wonwoo) were finally gathered in the living room. Gluttony was sulking because Pride had ordered him to wait with breakfast until after the meeting, therefore he now sat alone on a chair instead of on the couch like the rest of them. Sloth stood next to a rather nervous Lust, facing the small crowd.

"Okay, quiet now." The demons immediately stopped talking at Sloth's sharp tone. It didn't stop them from sharing surprised looks. "I want to introduce someone to you. Our fellow tenant, Hong Jisoo, was kind enough to reveal himself to me. May I introduce to you the seventh Great Prince of Hell, Lust."

The demons, except for Mingyu, gaped at the news and started talking all at once while Lust smiled sheepishly and avoided eye contact. Being the centre of attention made him visibly uncomfortable.

"Quiet!" After silence had returned, Sloth continued. "I'm sure you're having lots of questions, so let's start with our dear leader."

"Wait a moment," Jihoon interrupted. "Why is he here?" He pointed at Wonwoo, who was seated at the end of the couch next to Greed.

"Oh, he knows already. He has some sort of relationship with Jisoo."

"Had," Wonwoo corrected straight-faced. "I'm with Mingyu now. And yes, I know that he's a demon."

The demons all shot reproachful stares towards Greed, who suddenly became very interested in his slippers, but nobody said anything about him spilling their secret. Lust looked slightly disappointed at the news even though he had known already that his time with Wonwoo was over.

Seungcheol cleared his throat, trying to gather his thoughts. "Okay, Jisoo- uh, Lust. Why were you not living in hell with the rest of us? Why are you in the human realm? Did you get banned?"

"He didn't get banned; he still has his wings," Mingyu remarked, but hastily closed his mouth after receiving dark looks from both, Pride and Sloth. Wonwoo rubbed his back, a small smile playing on his lips, and Mingyu leaned into him with a pout.

"It's true, I didn't get banned. I still have my wings and therefore my full powers and immortality," Jisoo said after a moment of silence. "I left, or perhaps I should say I fled from hell." He stopped to gather his thoughts. "I was the third of the Great Princes who got created, shortly after Pride and Sloth. Satan immediately took a liking to me, probably because of my powers and because I reminded him of his former self. He kept me in his private quarters and I wasn't allowed to leave them." A bitter smile quirked his lips. "In the beginning, I didn't mind it much since I received special treatment but after a while, I became bored with getting everything served on a silver platter. I wanted to go out, to explore, to meet other people. I told him, thousands of times, and he refused just as often. He denied me the freedom to leave his rooms and to experience life and it irked me more with every passing hour. So one day I seduced him into drinking poisoned wine and fled to the human realm," Lust finished with a lighthearted shrug. Everyone was staring at him wide-eyed, somewhat flabbergasted at the abrupt end of the story.

"You poisoned Satan?" Seungkwan whispered in awe.

"How are you still alive?! Did he not come after you?" Even Wrath was shocked.

Jisoo grinned. "I honestly have no idea. I came to this realm at the beginning of the 15th century and I was incredibly paranoid for at least 350 years or so. I hid and tried to leave as little traces as possible but nothing ever happened. Of course, there were other demons who came here, bringing plagues and droughts and whatnot, but nobody has ever bothered me. After a while, I just assumed that he didn't care enough to search for me. When you guys turned up, I already had gotten used to hiding my aura and to not revealing myself to other demons."

Wonwoo gaped at him. "You told me that you are _a few years older than you look_ , but you've never told me that 'few years' means over 600!"

Envy shrugged. "We're demons; what do you expect? I'm the youngest and I'm still at least 300 years older than you." 

This time it was Greed who grinned at his still gaping lover.

"Back to the point," Wrath commanded. "Jisoo, you said you still have your full powers and immortality because you still have your wings. Does that mean we will age and eventually die since we've lost ours?"

"Hm, I can't say it for sure but it seems like it. I was quite shocked when Soonyoung got sick but it makes sense when your wings got ripped out." The demons shared nervous glances. The prospect of growing old wasn't exactly pleasant.

"How come you revealed yourself to Jeonghan but not to us?" Gluttony finally broke the silence.

Heat crawled up Jisoo's neck. That wasn't a topic he necessarily liked to talk about. "Well, I was- I _am_ interested in him, so I decided to try my luck. But he already knew about me anyway since he had noticed my aura."

Seungcheol raised an eyebrow at Sloth. "How come you can feel him but I can't?" The indignation on his face was obvious.

"He and I are the same," Jeonghan simply said with a smile and no further explanation to soothe the leader's ego.

Before Pride could demand a clear answer, Jihoon scowled. "Stop talking in fucking riddles."

Lust shot the demon next to him a glance. "You didn't tell them?" 

Sloth just shook his head.

"Tell us what?" Envy demanded.

After taking another peek at Jeonghan's silent figure, Lust sighed. "Remember when I said that Satan took a liking to me because I reminded him of his former self? We, the Seven Deadly Sins, are somewhat of an experiment. He tried to create the ultimate demons and we are the glorious result. But it's impossible to create a demon out of thin air even for someone as powerful as Satan, so whenever he does it, he needs something like a blank slate to work with. Normally he uses humans who signed a contract with him but Sloth and I are a bit different. Just like Satan himself, we're fallen angels."

A few seconds of absolute silence followed this revelation and then everyone started talking at once. Only a sharp rise of Sloth's power was able to silence the demons. "That's why I'm the most powerful out of all of us," he stated calmly. "I was the first demon Satan created out of a fallen angel, so he didn't exactly know what he was doing. Jisoo is weaker than me because Satan deemed me as powerful enough to be a threat but not active enough to actually rebel against him. He didn't want to repeat the same mistake with a more energetic angel and I guess since Lust fled, he just gave up on using angels completely."

"So we were human before?" Greed asked, looking completely baffled.

"Yes," Jisoo confirmed. If it weren't for Sloth's threatening aura, everyone would have started talking again, but since he was still pressuring them into silence, Lust had the chance to voice his thoughts. "My guess is that he picked you guys because you were already showing certain characteristics he wanted for his demons and then he talked you into accepting the contract. He probably offered you something extremely valuable or some sort of miracle... he can be quite convincing. But turning into a demon erases all memories anyway, so you'll probably never know what you gave your humanity up for."

"What about angels? Is it the same process?" Soonyoung asked curiously.

It was Sloth who answered this time, breaking his threatening silence. "It's not the same but it's similar. The starting conditions are a bit different since for angels to be banned from heaven they need to commit a sin first. Humans sin all the time but that doesn't mean they'll end up in hell because they can ask for forgiveness. But angels are inherently good, so if they commit a sin, they are forever tainted and can't return to heaven. Since they can't survive in the impure human realm for an extended period of time, some angels decide to descent to hell as fallen angels. Archangel Lucifer was the first and is now known as Satan. I don't remember which sins I have committed as an angel but, based on my character now, I assume that I didn't interfere in a case of injustice or something like that. Lust probably had a fling with a human." Sloth grinned and Jisoo elbowed his side, a blush spreading on his face. He didn't deny it.

 

Soonyoung was finally able to make breakfast while the others relaxed in the living room. Seungcheol and Jihoon were talking quietly about the new information they had received while Seungkwan questioned Wonwoo about the art of being human. Mingyu was listening to the conversation quietly but he had wrapped his arms around Wonwoo's waist, just in case someone still doubted their relationship. His cuddliness was rewarded with a kiss from Wonwoo and a disgusted look from Seungkwan ("Do that stuff in your bedroom, you perverts!").

Lust was fidgeting again, the close proximity to Jeonghan still flustering him. The older demon only regarded him with a tired look. "You can really stop being so nervous. Last night was a one-time thing; just forget about it. And as long as you don't harm anyone here, I won't harm you either." 

Lust's heart sank at those words. Normally it didn't bother him at all to have one night stands; he wasn't the type to date and have long-term relationships anyway. Too predictable. Too boring. But maybe, just maaaybe he would make an exception if Sloth were to ask him out. Being shot down like this for the second time in three days, especially after getting his hopes up after last night, hurt more than he liked to admit.

His eyes followed the beautiful demon who was walking towards the kitchen and his heart thumped painfully in his chest. Perhaps it was time for him to make an effort and pursue love instead of desire.


	19. Chapter XIV: Christmas

 

"It's a Christian holiday; why do _we_ have to celebrate it?" Wrath asked grumpily for what felt like the thousandth time.

"It's _tradition_ , Jihoon," Lust said with exasperation, "and it's fun. Just go with it."

"Fine. But if I have to sing even a single crappy Christmas carol, I'm going to murder all of you in your sleep."

Lust only rolled his eyes and pushed his hands deeper into his jacket pockets. It was incredibly cold (something Seungkwan whined about on a regular basis) and it had started to snow a few days prior. By now everything was covered in a white blanket and the demons had experienced their first snowball fight - or rather, snowball war. Wrath and Pride had both been a bit too ambitious to win and Hansol and Minghao had proven to be worthy opponents. Sloth had intervened after the first bloody nose, something both teams weren't particularly happy about.

"Jisoo hyung! Jihoon hyung! Hurry! There won't be any trees left!" Chan shouted from the front of the group, jumping in place, the tip of his nose adorably red.

Wrath waved a dismissive hand but couldn't quite hide his smile. He sped up a little to catch up with Pride, who was walking a few meters in front of him next to Envy and Hansol. The two of them were talking enthusiastically about a new game they wanted to try later, not paying any attention to the oldest demon.

Wrath slowed down next to him.

"I would've never thought that I could adapt so well to the human realm," the elder said after noticing him. "We've been here for barely three months and I'm actually enjoying myself."

"Is our great leader finally turning into a softie?" Wrath asked with a teasing grin.

Pride slung his arm around the smaller demon, making him squirm, and poked his cheek. "Don't even try to deny how much you like our humans, Jihoonie. It's so obvious in the way you interact with them."

Wrath only scowled and blushed, snuggling a bit closer to the warmth the other demon provided.

 

Gluttony was just as excited about buying a Christmas tree as Chan was, perhaps even more since it was his first time. Therefore, the two of them were bouncing around in the front of the group and played with each other, all under the watchful eyes of Seokmin who was trailing after them. He had already prevented several collisions with random streetsigns and at least two car accidents. After the third almost-accident, he grew tired of their antics and forced them to walk by his sides, arms linked with him. Chan was still as hyper as before but Gluttony turned unusually quiet, overly aware of the areas where his arm touched Seokmin's (even though there were at least four thick layers of clothing separating them).

 

Lust had sneaked closer to Jeonghan, who was walking behind hand-holding Jun and Minghao. The two Chinese boys had gathered the tenants of number seventeen a few days prior to come out with their relationship, both blushing scarlet at the cheers from Hansol, Chan and Seokmin, and the congratulations from the rest. (Everyone had pretended to be surprised for their sake.)

"Are you trying to jump me?" Sloth asked without turning around.

Lust blushed and quickly walked next to him. "Of course not. I was just... thinking about where to walk."

Sloth shot him a disbelieving look and then shook his head with an amused smile. "I see."

They remained in silence for the rest of the way.

 

Greed was trudging at the end of the group, alone and sad, shivering when the cold wind hit his bare neck. Wonwoo had told him earlier to wear a scarf but Greed had ignored his advice because the only scarf he owned was a hideous yellowish colour that didn't match his jacket at all. He deeply regretted it now, especially since Wonwoo had seemed annoyed at his blatant disregard and had stopped talking to him. He missed his boyfriend already.

He looked up when someone stopped next to him, only to find the boyfriend he had just been thinking about, wearing Greed's ugly scarf. 

Wonwoo blocked his way and wrapped his own blue scarf around the demon's neck. "You're going to get a cold if you don't keep your neck warm, you idiot," he said with his trademark small smile and pecked Mingyu on the nose.

Greed wondered what good deeds he had done in his human life to deserve someone as perfect as Wonwoo.

 

Of course actually buying a Christmas tree was a mess. After Greed and Envy had almost started a fistfight with a random human over a tree they liked and Chan had almost lit the whole place on fire by bumping into a candle; Sloth, Lust and Pride decided to just return the next day, only the three of them. This, of course, caused loud protests from the rest of the tenants. Finally and after many complaints, Pride pulled the age-card and picked the tree that conveniently stood next to him, silencing everyone's complaints with withering glares.

 

They decided to decorate the tree and the house the day before Christmas eve.

Jun and Minghao were responsible for decorating the windows with fairy lights. A task they took very seriously and which therefore took several hours to accomplish. Jun nearly got a heart attack when he found out that Greed had tripped over one of the cables and ripped off an entire string of lights and Minghao almost pounced on Envy after an offhand comment about how he would prefer colourful lights in his room, instead of the white ones the couple had used.

Gluttony offered to bake cookies and shooed everyone except Seokmin out of the kitchen.

The rest all wanted to help with the tree (except for Wrath, who was very content with sitting on the sofa and watching them until Pride ordered him to decorate the room with candles and little trinkets to which he grumpily complied) and a fight broke out over the colour of the tree ornaments, before they decided on red and silver by majority vote.

Lust and Sloth kept the tenants in line while decorating (especially overeager Chan and Hansol) and Envy spied on the neighbours for inspiration, bringing back twigs and cones of fir to place them on the window sills.

Lust was also the one who placed the little angel figurine on top of the tree - an action that elicited sniggers from the present demons and Wonwoo.

 

They had all unwrapped their presents (mainly sponsored by Greed since the other demons were still mostly either too lazy or too proud to work while attending university) and were now relaxing in the darkening living room, listening to music and eating Gluttony's cookies, when Hansol returned from his room with a bag.

"It's not a real Christmas gathering without _this_ ," he announced and pulled out several bottles of eggnog and mulled wine. The humans immediately groaned while the demons were quite interested.

"What's that?" Gluttony asked, eyeing the bottles hungrily.

"This, my dear, clueless friend," Hansol said pompously, "is alcohol."

 

_Maybe this wasn't the best idea_ , Gluttony thought while looking around the living room. Since he could eat pretty much everything, nothing had much of an effect on him - but that was obviously not the case for the rest of the tenants.

On his way to the kitchen to get some water for the others, he tried hard not to look towards the couch where Minghao and Jun were in the middle of a heated make-out session. He carefully stepped over Chan, who was rolling on the floor, hysterically laughing at stupid jokes a giggling Envy and a slurring Hansol told him. (Jisoo and Seokmin had only very reluctantly agreed to let Chan have a glass of mulled wine but Gluttony had seen Hansol sneak him a bottle of eggnog later.) Avoiding the grabby hands of Wonwoo and Greed, who seemingly had incredibly important things to tell him (they whisper-shouted something about a conspiracy regarding Santa Claus), he fled into the hallway. Finally arriving in the cool and quiet kitchen, he took a deep, relieved breath. That breath ended in a surprised squeak when warm hands suddenly covered his eyes.

"Guess who?" someone behind him asked with a quiet giggle.

Gluttony's heartrate immediately spiked after hearing that voice - a voice he would recognize everywhere, anytime - but he tried hard to remain cool and relaxed. "Are you drunk, Seokmin?"

Seokmin turned him around, the small pout on his lips making Gluttony's heart beat even faster. "Aw, you got me, Soonyoungie. Maybe I drank a little." An eye-smile appeared on his face, blinding the demon momentarily. Seokmin suddenly touched Gluttony's cheek. "Your skin is so nice." His fingers wandered over his nose, tracing his lips before they arrived at the demon's chin. "And your features too."

Gluttony's face was on fire while he warily eyed the other. It took him a lot of effort not so squeal. "How many drinks are considered 'a little'?"

"I dunno. I don't remember." He touched the demon's cheek again and looked into his eyes. "I really like you, Soonyoungie. Even though you're a demon. Is that bad?"

Breathing became a very difficult task for Gluttony at those words. Was it wrong to answer him now? Would he even remember tomorrow? Would it be considered taking advantage of a drunk person? Oh well, whatever. He was a demon anyway, being bad was, like, his trademark, right? 

"I like you too, Seokmin," Gluttony whispered, averting his eyes in embarrassment, "but I'll bring you to bed now because you really need to sober up."

Without giving the other time to react, he grabbed his hand (mentally freaking out about holding hands with Seokmin) and pulled him along, up the stairs. Seokmin stumbled after him, but he wasn't complaining, just humming a little tune. After giving him instructions, the demon closed the bedroom door and waited for the other to get dressed in his pyjamas, heart still beating unnaturally fast.

The door opened and Seokmin looked at him with puppy eyes. "Can you tuck me in?"

Gluttony pretended to be somewhat annoyed ("Really? How old are you?") but in truth, he was incredibly giddy. If Seokmin asked, he would gladly tuck him in for the rest of eternity. 

Seokmin's half of the room was colourful and happy, just like its owner, and it also had a comforting vibe that suited Seokmin well. Said owner was already curled under his sheets, watching Gluttony examine his room and waving him closer as soon as he was finished. The demon wasn't quite sure what to do, so he settled for awkwardly patting the blanket, making the other smile in content.

"I want a good-night kiss."

"Ex-excuse me?!" Gluttony sputtered.

"Please, Soonyoung?"

These puppy-eyes would someday be the death of him, the demon decided. He leaned over the bed and pecked Seokmin's cheek as fast as he could, turning into a very ripe tomato afterwards.

"One more," Seokmin demanded.

Gluttony pecked his cheek again, wondering how he even had gotten into this situation in the first place.

Before he could pull back, Seokmin wrapped his arms around the demon's neck, stopping him from moving away. And then he kissed Gluttony straight on the lips.

 

Sloth was seated next to an overly affectionate Wrath and a very jealous Pride and tried hard to stop the younger demon from crawling on his lap.

"But hyuuuuuuuung, your hair is so soft, I really need to touch it," Wrath whined, reaching for his fringe.

"Jihoon, leave my hair alone. And for God's sake, stop trying to sit on me."

"Yeah Jihoonie, you can play with my hair instead," Pride proposed, trying to pull Wrath towards him while shooting glares in Sloth's direction.

Sloth grimaced. It wasn't even his fault that Wrath was clinging to him; why was he the one getting glared at? "Exactly, go play with Seungcheol."

Wrath pouted. "I don't want to play with Seungcheol. I want to play with you!"

Pride looked like a kicked puppy and stopped pulling Wrath's shirt. "Do you prefer Jeonghan over me?"

"Jeonghan's prettier than you." Wrath attached himself to Sloth's arm.

"But I'm cooler, no? Right, Jihoonie?"

Sloth had just opened his mouth to finally get rid of the nuisances when a red-faced Jisoo appeared and forcibly moved Wrath into Prides arms (who immediately used that chance to cuddle his unwilling lover). Without another word, Lust led Sloth over to the sofa where Jun and Minghao were sleeping soundly and sat down close to their feet, pulling Sloth next to him. The blond demon decided not to complain about getting manhandled. Everything was better than cutesy Wrath.

"Jeonghan... Do you hate me?" Lust asked after a moment, looking like he was about to burst into tears at any second.

It took a considerable amount of effort to not roll his eyes at the question. "No." Jisoo still looked teary, so Sloth added an unenthusiastic, "why would I?" and patted his shoulder to cheer him up. It backfired immediately.

Lust swallowed, his eyes turning even more watery. "I've been trying to get your attention ever since that one night - you know which one I mean, right? _That_ night? - but you never acknowledge me or treat me differently from your other friends..." The first tear ran down his cheek and he bit his lip to prevent himself from full out crying. 

Sloth's eyes softened at that sight. "Jisoo, don't cry." He wiped away the tear. "You're a great person and an even greater demon, it's just that I'm not used to people being interested in me. I'm the most powerful demon after Satan and others usually fear me. Also, my lazy character mostly stops me from actually making an effort to achieve something. I don't think I could make you happy if we were in a relationship. But I do have to admit that I'm attracted to you and that I really dislike it when you leave for your nightly adventures."

Lust blushed. It was obvious that he wasn't very keen on discussing that topic with his crush. "Well, ever since Wonwoo got into the relationship with Mingyu, I couldn't really fulfil my needs any other way. But I'm happy for them," he said and looked over to the couple sleeping in the corner.

Sloth smiled in agreement. "Me too, they're adorable. How about we try something different. Instead of going out at night, you come to me and we'll just see where it will lead us? But that would mean no flings with anyone else. I don't share my lover."

Lust's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Of course!", he shouted and a wide, happy grin spread over his face. 

Sloth grinned too at his ecstatic reaction, his heart fluttering lightly. They sealed the deal with a kiss.

 

"What a night." Gluttony groaned when his head finally touched his fluffy pillow.

Sloth nodded, eyes already closed. "I didn't think it would affect them this much."

"Me neither. Seokmin was completely wasted. He forced me to hold his hand until he fell asleep."

"Seokmin? Are you sure?" Sloth opened his eyes and peered through the darkness of their bedroom. "He only had one drink and Jun told me that he has the highest tolerance in this house when it comes to alcohol."

"What?!"


	20. Chapter XV: Valentine's Day

 

Greed felt somewhat antsy. It had been exactly 139 1/2 days since he and Wonwoo had made their relationship official and while finding an appropriate Christmas present for the most perfect (hu)man on earth had posed a challenge, he had overcome it without a hitch (if someone knew how to find special rarities it was the demon of Greed after all).

But that didn't help him at all with overcoming the next obstacle that loomed just around the corner: Valentine's day was coming up. An occasion Greed had usually scoffed at when he was in the human realm during that particular time of the year (although he had liked to buy the expensive sweets that got sold pretty cheaply one or two days after the big event). A day for mushy love letters and useless flowers. A day dedicated to spending money on someone else. A day filled with things Greed despised.

Who would have thought that one day he would actively partake in the ordeal?

But here he was, walking through the crisp air together with Gluttony, Lust and Minghao, looking for ingredients to make chocolates for the man he loved.

The guys had stared at him with obvious disgust when he had suggested to simply _buy_ chocolates a few days prior and Minghao's muttered "wow, poor Wonwoo" had very quickly convinced him to tag along. The only one heavily opposed to the whole do-it-yourself idea (or any idea regarding Valentine's day, really) had been Wrath, who was staying at home in protest. Greed mused that they should've asked Pride instead, who probably would've been more willing to put in some effort for his lover, but oh well. Too late.

Since it was everyone's first time making chocolates, they heavily relied on Gluttony and his demonic instincts when it came to everything food-related - and maybe a little bit on the internet too. Gluttony had made an extensive list with everything that could possibly fit Valentine's themed chocolates and Greed, of course, had been chosen to be the sponsor of it all. He had almost choked after calculating the price (and had personally crossed out ludicrous ingredients like edible gold - although, maybe if Wonwoo really wanted it...).

 

While Minghao and Gluttony were animatedly chatting about this and that, Greed walked next to Jisoo. "How's it going with Jeonghan?" he dared to ask while trying hard not to seem too interested. Sloth was always a bit of a touchy topic when it came to Lust but it was plain obvious to everyone in the household that Jisoo had fallen head-over-heels for the other demon. However, Sloth rarely acknowledged that fact outside his bedroom.

Jisoo sighed at the question and pulled his hat down to cover his ears. "Well, we have sex regularly and he sometimes kisses me when nobody is around, but that's pretty much it. He just talks to me like he does to everyone else. I've never thought I'd say that but I feel like he likes my body more than me." He let out a sad little laugh that ended in a sniffle. "How pathetic for the demon of lust to be bothered about something like that."

His sad expression immediately pulled Greed's heartstrings and he wrapped his arm around the smaller demon's shoulders to console him. "He'll come around Jisoo, don't worry. Jeonghan is kinda slow when it comes to changing his habits but he's much more active now, thanks to you. But if you want, I can talk to him."

Lust smiled and looked a bit more positive, making Mingyu's heart jump a few times (he was completely devoted to Wonwoo, but sometimes his past experiences haunted him a little and he knew very well that Wonwoo had the same problem whenever Jisoo walked past in tight jeans). "Maybe we could-"

Jisoo got interrupted mid-sentence by over-excited Gluttony, who seemed to have found the perfect place to shop for their chocolaty needs.

 

~

 

Greed's mood had been rather bad ever since he had seen the total of the bill Gluttony had handed him but the others looked excited so he tried not to let it show too much. To not spoil the surprise, they had decided to use the kitchen in one of the dormitories of Minghao's university and to disguise the trip as a night out. They hadn't told their significant others about going out quite yet though and Greed wasn't too sure how they would react to the news. Wonwoo's possessiveness was only second to Pride's (but Wrath very rarely gave him a reason to show it) and since Wrath wouldn't join in, the pressure was on Greed to let the group escape smoothly. 

But the main issue remained: Greed was a terrible liar when it came to his boyfriend. Therefore his go-to tactic was to avoid the human until dinner, where Jisoo would officially inform the rest of the tenants about their 'night out'. Fortunately, his earlier talk with Lust had given him plenty of reason to stay away from Wonwoo and focus on Sloth instead.

 

When the group returned home in the late afternoon, Gluttony immediately vanished into the kitchen to hide their ingredients and prepare dinner, while Minghao went to take a bath. Lust and Greed remained huddled on the couch in the living room in order to come up with a plan on how to force Sloth to show some proper emotions towards Jisoo. But before they could think of anything constructive, the target of their scheme as well as the one human Greed was actively trying to avoid walked through the door. Both of them stopped at the sight of their lovers lounging on the sofa, their faces close enough to be considered intimate.

Wonwoo's usually nonchalant expression darkened at once while Sloth raised an eyebrow and drawled, "Are we interrupting something?" Even though his voice was calm, the flare in his aura spoke differently.

"It's not what you think!"

"We're not doing anything!"

The two demons immediately tried to get away from each other. In their haste to get up, they stumbled and ended in a tangle of limbs on the floor, not really helping their cause.

Wonwoo strode over and grabbed his boyfriend, his eyes never leaving Lust in the process. "Stop using your demon seduction shit on him," he hissed before he pulled Mingyu after him and stomped towards their room.

 

~

 

Jisoo climbed back onto the couch while Jeonghan watched him from the doorway. His knees hurt. His heart hurt even more.

"You know that I didn't do anything, right? I mean, you would've felt it otherwise," he mumbled, eyes directed at the carpet. His whole body felt heavy from the amount of venom that had laced Wonwoo's voice. It had shocked him that the human who knew him so well would suspect him of stooping low enough to seduce his boyfriend. Lust leaned against the soft cushions and wrapped his arms around his legs before he buried his face in his knees. 

Nothing worked out the way he wanted it to and neither his lover nor his former lover seemed to trust him to be faithful. Even though he had worked so hard throughout the last weeks. He had not gone out alone. He had cut off all contact with the humans he had usually met for sex. He even had given his laptop to Chan as a late Christmas present. Just to be doubted again. Maybe he just wasn't good enough...

He had just decided that he should stop bothering Sloth with his useless advances when his thoughts got disrupted by a warm arm around his shoulders.

"I can hear the cogs turning in your brain and I'm sure that you're coming to an absurd conclusion right now. Something along the lines of leaving me because you think of yourself as unworthy or an inconvenience." 

Lust lifted his head to find Jeonghan sitting next to him, smiling, his eyes filled with an emotion the demon couldn't quite pinpoint. 

"Am I right?"

A pink flush crept up Lust's neck and he avoided eye contact with the other demon. "Of course not." Even to his own ears, he sounded unconvincing. 

Sloth only laughed at his feeble attempt and gently grabbed his chin, forcing Lust to look in his direction. "You know that I get angry because I'm worried that someone is going to do something to you, yes? Not because I think you'd cheat on me. And if I wouldn't care about you, I wouldn't bother to get angry either."

"But that was Mingyu. He wouldn't do anything..."

Jeonghan's eyebrows furrowed at once. "The last time I walked in on the two of you, you and Wonwoo were both fu-"

"OKAY, OKAY! Yes, but that was before Wonwoo and Mingyu officially got together. I'd never start anything with someone in a relationship. I'm not heartless." Lust was visibly flustered after Sloth's reminder (on Christmas they had set the unwritten rule of not talking about the sexual adventures they both had had during their long existences) and hid behind his knees once again. 

A moment of silence passed.

"So, who are you going to give your chocolates to?"

Lust immediately raised his head at the seemingly innocent question. A rare, playful grin greeted him on Sloth's usually serious face and his heart skipped a beat. "How did you know?!"

"Please, I share a room with Gluttony. I'd have to be deaf and blind not to notice - and even then, I probably would."

"But it's supposed to be a surprise," Lust whined. He had really looked forward to Jeonghan's (hopefully) elated expression. "Does everyone already know?" 

With a gentle smile, Sloth brushed back some of his lover's bangs that had fallen into his eyes. "I don't think so. Seokmin is too preoccupied with being in love, same as the Chinese couple. And Seungcheol is way too dense to notice but I doubt that Jihoon is preparing anything anyway. Wonwoo might suspect something though, he asked me earlier why you were gone. But if you plan on giving them to me, I can pretend to be surprised if you want me to."

"Of course they're for you," Lust grumbled, his ears red, "and you better be surprised and eat them as if they're delicious since I'll probably stay awake the whole night to prepare them."

"I'll eat them well," Sloth just said, his smile widening, before he leaned over for a kiss.

 

~

 

That was certainly not how Greed had planned the afternoon. Instead of playing cupid for Jisoo, he was now facing his fuming boyfriend, who had been muttering about untrustworthy demons and backstabbers the whole way to their room. But maybe it was better that way, Greed thought as he watched Wonwoo close the door, he had never liked the annoying angel with his stupid arrows and he wouldn't exactly call himself an expert when it came to love anyway. He snapped back to attention when Wonwoo turned around to face him. 

"Why would you let him get so close? You know what he can do," the human growled.

"Wonwoo, he-"

"You're just not careful enough when it comes to other people."

"But he-"

"I don't know what to do with you!"

"Wonwoo!" Greed shouted and that made his boyfriend stop. "Jisoo didn't do anything to me."

"But he was too close..."

"Yes, because we were talking about Jeonghan and didn't want anyone to overhear," Greed said in exasperation. "I might be gullible sometimes but I'm still a demon. I know when someone is using their powers on me and Jisoo was not doing anything. What you said to him was actually pretty hurtful."

He watched as anger slowly got replaced with guilt until Wonwoo rubbed his face with his hands. "I'm an asshole. I completely messed up, didn't I? Urgh, I just can't help it when it comes to you... Jisoo is probably sad now."

Greed couldn't stop a smile from spreading at the sight of his distraught boyfriend. "I think he'll forgive you if you apologize."

"Will _you_ forgive me if I apologize?" Wonwoo asked carefully.

"Only if you're not mad when I go out with Jisoo, Minghao and Soonyoung tonight," Mingyu replied and inwardly congratulated himself for being so subtle.

His boyfriend grinned and hugged him. "Then we should use the time now to make up for the lost time later."

Greed only laughed and pulled him towards the bed.

 

~

 

After Wonwoo had apologized to Lust, who was still wrapped in Sloths arms, Gluttony had forced them all to prepare the dining table.

When everyone was seated and had started eating, it was Jisoo's time to shine. "Soonyoung, Minghao, Mingyu and I will be going out tonight," he declared rather abruptly and everyone looked up from their food.

"Huh? Where to?" asked Seokmin, staring at his boyfriend in confusion.

"Oh, you know, just checking out some bars and stuff," Soonyoung said nonchalantly while impaling a potato with his fork.

"I'll come too," Wrath suddenly said, his face stoic. 

Greed couldn't prevent a "for real?!" from slipping out, which earned him a glare from the smaller demon.

"Then I'll go too!" Pride was already excited but his face immediately fell when Wrath shook his head.

"I need alone-time."

"But the others are there too?" the elder asked, confused puppy eyes boring into his lover.

"Yeah, but they don't try to annoy me whenever they're drunk."

Seokmin and Jun had just opened their mouths (probably to tag along as well), when Lust hastily stopped them. "Wrath can come but more than five is impossible, there's uh... a limit." Sloth sent him an amused smile at his obvious lie and Lust kicked his chair in retaliation.

"Let's just let them go and have their fun. We can play some games here instead," Sloth said with authority and the other tenants agreed grudgingly.

 

~

 

"Remind me to thank Jeonghan," Gluttony groaned while he heaved one of the heavy bags filled to the brim with ingredients on the counter in the dormitory. "Seokmin would've never let me go alone if it wasn't for him."

"Jun wasn't happy either. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea." Minghao looked sad at the prospect of his boyfriend being unhappy and continued going through the cupboards for pots and everything they needed.

"They'll cheer up as soon as they see the results of our hard work tomorrow," Lust said, brimming over with motivation. He was the only one who was still smiling brightly while he unpacked the second bag. Wrath said nothing and just leaned against the table next to Greed, who was trying hard not to think about the money he had spent on all the stuff laid out in front of him.

Gluttony pulled out his list and laid it next to the stove. "Okay, let's do this!"

 

~

 

It was already past 3 am when the group returned home, smelling like chocolate and completely exhausted. Especially Gluttony was stressed out after he had prevented several fires as well as explosions. In the end, he had finished most of the chocolate-making by himself while the others had decorated (he had deemed that less dangerous than them handling hot ingredients). Before he left for his room, he told Greed that next time they'd buy chocolates - and the demon wholeheartedly agreed.

 

~

 

Greed arrived at his room and was greeted by Wonwoo, who was still awake and reading a book on his bed. Hastily he hid the chocolates behind his back, trying to be inconspicuous and failing miserably. "Why are you still awake?"

Wonwoo took off his reading glasses and got up for a hug (the demon shuffled awkwardly towards the wall to prevent him from seeing the present). "I couldn't sleep." He stepped even closer and gave Greed a kiss on the tip of his nose before he grinned. "You smell good and there's chocolate on your cheek. Happy Valentine's day, love."

Mingyu flushed red and reluctantly handed him the present. Wonwoo took it with a happy smile and immediately opened it to try one of the chocolates. "You could've at least pretended not to notice, you know. For the sake of the surprise," Greed grumbled, slightly pouty, but Wonwoo simply ignored his complaints.

"They're delicious, thank you. Is that real gold?"

 

~

 

When Jun woke up, he found Minghao snuggled closely into his side. Normally his boyfriend was too shy to actually enter his bed without asking but it seemed as if he had made an exception today. He wrapped his arms around the smaller boy and his fingers grazed a messily wrapped package, close to falling off the bed. Since it had 'Junhui' written on it in his boyfriend's handwriting, he decided that it was okay for him to open it (he was curious by nature).

Minghao woke up just when he had popped the first sweet in his mouth. The sight of his dishevelled and sleepy boyfriend always warmed Jun's heart and he couldn't resist giving him a little kiss that tasted like chocolate.

 

~

 

Pride checked his dress shirt for the third time in the mirror before he picked up the flowers he had hidden in his part of the closet and went over to Wrath's bed. 

The younger demon was not happy to get woken up after only five hours of sleep but he swallowed his curses when he noticed the roses the elder held sheepishly in his hands. “You got me flowers? Seriously?”

“You don't like them? I thought dark red and thorns would suit you. Maybe I can give them to Envy inst-”

Wrath immediately ripped them out of his hands. “I never said I don't like them,” he hissed, but his face had turned visibly pink. “Hold that and don't look.” He handed the flowers back to Pride and climbed out of the bed to rummage in his own drawer, before he returned and gave the little bag of chocolates to his lover.

Pride looked as if his world had stopped turning. “Are those for me? From you? You _made_ them for me?”

“Obviously, idiot.” Wrath decidedly avoided looking in Pride's general direction, which made him miss the brilliant smile that lit up the demon's face.

 

~

 

Gluttony got woken up by – how could it be any different – Jisoo knocking on his door. He was used to it by now, it happened almost every other night, but it was probably the first time it had happened in the morning. He opened the door while Sloth still slept soundly behind him.

“Is he awake already?” Lust asked excitedly and peeked over his shoulder.

“Do you really have to ask? It's only nine, of course not. Is Seokmin downstairs or is he still sleeping?”

“I saw him earlier in the kitchen,” Jisoo said, trying to hide his smile.

“Alright then, have fun you two.” Gluttony took his present and went downstairs after brushing his teeth. He was greeted by the sweet smell of chocolate and the sight of Seokmin washing the dishes. “What are you doing, Minnie?”

Seokmin jumped and turned around with his hand on his heart. “God, you scared me. I didn't think you'd be up that early after partying the whole night. Did you have fun?”

“No. Remind me not to do that ever again,” Gluttony grumbled while walking over, which made Seokmin laugh. “But anyway, happy Valentine's day!” He handed his boyfriend the chocolates, but instead of the happiness he had expected, he got a sad face in return. 

“I wanted to give you chocolates too, but they're not cold enough to wrap yet. I thought I'd have more time.”

Gluttony stepped around him to take a look at the tray on the counter and found flawless sweets that made his mouth water. “I don't mind waiting together, we can just eat my chocolates first.”

 

~

 

It was always dangerous to disturb Sloth's sleep but Lust had mastered the art of waking his lover up without getting his face ripped off. He carefully approached the sleeping beauty and leaned over him to brush his blond hair out of his face. Afterwards, he curled up next to him under the blanket and used his power to nudge the demon. He could feel Sloth's power react at once. An unintelligible groan rang through the bedroom before Jeonghan opened one eye to peer at his lover. “Can't you wait with your present until I'm awake?” he mumbled groggily and moved a bit closer to Lust's body heat.

“You're awake now,” he replied with a sly grin and Sloth groaned once again.

“Great, my boyfriend is a smart-ass.”

Jisoo shot up so fast it made him dizzy and Jeonghan had to prevent him from falling out of bed. “Boyfriend?!”

Sloth laughed at his overly surprised face. “Well, I thought maybe we should make our relationship a bit more official and Valentine's day seems like the perfect time to do that. Only if you want to, though.”

A lump was blocking Jisoo's throat, so he simply nodded while his heart exploded into a million butterflies.


	21. Extra Chapter I

 

The surroundings were blurry, only smudges of dark colours bleeding into each other without any identifiable shapes. There was a hum of background noise; indistinguishable voices mixing with the sound of music and laughter. Suddenly Soonyoung's face appeared, his furrowed eyebrows visible even in the dim light. "We shouldn't be doing this. He'll find out and then we'll die." His voice was barely a whisper. He gnawed on his lip.

"It's going to be so worth it. Trust me, love," Seokmin's just as quiet but much more cheerful voice answered. "Besides, he's already pretty dead to the world, so don't worry."

"Oh god, I just hope he never finds out..." the demon trailed off, the anxiety not quite leaving his features, but a slender hand appeared and caressed his cheek, causing him to finally break into a smile, his eyes forming crescents.

"Stop thinking too much and let's go. We might miss something amazing."

Soonyoung's face vanished from sight and suddenly the dark colours turned into bright lights while the noises got noticeably louder.

A pair of long legs clad in tight jeans appeared. "What were you doing under the table?" The perplexed face of Jeonghan came into focus. "And isn't that Hansol's phone? He was searching for it earlier."

"We're on an undercover mission," Seokmin's voice was heard once again, "and yeah, it's Hansol's. He gave it to me for safekeeping while he's wasted."

Jeonghan's sceptical face got bigger and bigger until only his nostrils were visible. Soonyoung's laughter filled the air. Everything turned black. "Did you just zoom in on my nose, Seokmin?"

"I would never." Seokmin's voice sounded angelic in its innocence. "But maybe you shouldn't touch the camera lens like that; Hansol really hates that."

Jeonghan grumbled something incoherently but was interrupted by another loud voice. "Hey guys!" Suddenly the image was back and, although blurry, the flushed face of Jun became visible. "Are you filming something? Can I join?" he slurred happily.

Soonyoung groaned. "We're so going to get caught. There are too many people involved now."

Everything turned black once again before Seokmin's sleeve was seen. Shortly after, the figures of Jeonghan and Jun came back into focus. "Good, image's clear again. Jun, you really shouldn't leave Minghao alone like this, he might get lost. Just go and search for him, mh? And Jeonghan, I'm pretty sure that barkeeper was hitting on Jisoo earlier..."

Jun immediately scurried away, searching for his boyfriend to rescue him, while the blond demon rolled his eyes. "I get it, I'll leave you guys alone. But don't do anything stupid." He too turned around and left towards the bar while the camera zoomed in on his well-rounded backside.

"Ow! Don't hit me, Soonyoungie," Seokmin whined, the image shaking slightly.

"Give me the phone. I'll do the filming," came the demon's unimpressed response. Seokmin appeared, still rubbing his head with a pout. "So, where are they?"

Seokmin's face immediately lit up at the question and he hid behind the buffet table in his best James Bond impersonation. "The targets are located in the right corner of the living room. We're gonna have to be cautious and swift to not get caught," he whispered in a pseudo-hoarse voice, to make himself sound more mysterious.

Soonyoung snickered and made his way towards the door. Peeking around the corner, the camera focused on Jihoon who was seemingly lost in his own little world - but the image immediately began to shake because Soonyoung had a hard time holding back his laughter at the ridiculous sight.

"Told you it would be worth it," Seokmin chirped. "Let's go a little bit closer, but stay in the crowd so he won't see you."

A lot of feet and legs were seen until the sight was clear once again. Jihoon was still dancing slowly, completely disregarding the fast rhythm of the music that was blasting, while Seungcheol was watching his twirling lover with a smitten grin on his face. The song came to an end and Jihoon even did a little curtsy in the demon leader's direction, who blushed at the gesture.

Soonyoung almost dropped the phone in his futile attempt to muffle his laughter. "Wow, just how wasted are they? Urgh, I wish I could forever rub that in their faces but they'd banish me to the deepest pits of hell. Oh god, what's he doing now?"

Seungcheol didn't look as happy anymore when Jihoon began to vigorously shake his booty as soon as the next upbeat song started playing. But before the elder could get up to defend his lover from possible predatory onlookers, Jihoon sashayed over to him in a way that could only be considered suggestive. Seokmin appeared for a few seconds, grimacing and pretending to vomit, before the camera focused back on the small demon.

"Is he... Is he seriously giving Seungcheol a lap dance?" Soonyoung's voice sounded as if he wasn't sure whether to laugh or to cry. "I think I need to cleanse my eyes with holy water. And not even that will be able to burn Seungcheol's smug face out of my brain."

At that statement, Seokmin couldn't hold back anymore and his loud laughter drowned out the music. It didn't take long for Soonyoung to join in - but in the midst of their hysterics, they caught sight of wide-eyed Jihoon moving in their direction.

"Oh god, he saw us! He's coming over, abort mission, abort mis-" 

The screen turned black.

 

 

Wrath wasn't sure what to feel.

He had woken up with a massive headache and no memories of the previous night, and had forced himself to go downstairs to get some water - only to find the majority of the tenants seated in the living room, loudly laughing at something on Hansol's phone. But as soon as he had made his presence known, dead silence had filled the room and everyone had suddenly been incredibly busy avoiding eye contact. "What's going on?" he had asked, too hungover to connect the dots.

"Nothing, we were just hanging out," Seokmin had hastily assured him while Gluttony had hidden behind his boyfriend and Hansol had tried to inconspicuously make his phone vanish. But Wrath had simply walked over, grabbed the device and pressed play.

Oh, how he now wished he hadn't. He could've just ignored them, made a cup of coffee and gone back to cuddling with Pride. 

All the tenants seemed to hold their breath while waiting for his reaction to the video that documented his public downfall. Wrath calmly put the phone down on the table and simply walked into the kitchen. When they heard the coffee machine turn on, everyone relaxed.

"We survived," Gluttony whispered in awe.

"For now. He might kill us in our sleep," Envy answered while the other tenants exchanged nervous looks. 

The sound of the coffee machine stopped and there was a moment of silence in the kitchen before Wrath appeared in the doorway of the living room, holding the biggest meat-cleaver they owned.

Even to the unsuspecting humans, Wrath truly looked like a being from hell while he hacked Hansol's expensive smartphone into tiny little pieces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, Jihoonie ^^'  
> Early extra chapter because I'm excited about the new teaser they released~
> 
> My heart is not okay ;-;


	22. Chapter XVI

 

It had been close to two years since the six Great Princes of Hell had arrived at number seventeen - and brought with them quite a few changes.

Shortly after the fateful Christmas party, Soonyoung had permanently moved into Seokmin's room because Jisoo had knocked on his door almost every night to wake up Jeonghan. Consequently, Jisoo had decided to claim the free bed as his own (even though he spent most nights in Jeonghan's bed anyway). Hansol, just as annoyed by Soonyoung as Soonyoung was by Jisoo, had fled into Seungkwan's room - who, surprisingly, was suddenly very eager to have a new roommate.

Minghao and Jun were still as much of a happy couple as they had been in the beginning, and Jihoon and Seungcheol were still decidedly unofficial (but even oblivious Hansol knew about them after that party half a year ago - it was his phone that had suffered Jihoon's wrath after all). Wonwoo and Mingyu annoyed everyone with their lovey-dovey cutesiness and Chan finally had a bedroom all to himself (he would never admit that maybe he missed Jisoo tucking him in - but only a tiny little bit). Also, he had gotten his first girlfriend, a fact all the other tenants teased him mercilessly about.

Hansol was not an intern anymore. Instead, he had scored a job at a law firm, something Mingyu was very interested in. Wonwoo and Jun had both successfully graduated and started to work while Chan had gotten accepted into prestigious Seoul National University.

Time flew by and the demons felt more alive with each passing day.

 

On Sunday morning, Minghao emerged from his room, rubbing his aching head. His boyfriend was still dead to the world and, by the looks of it, he wasn't the only one. Even though it was already past 10, there was no sign of life in the hallway. That also meant that neither Soonyoung nor Seokmin had bothered making breakfast yet. Minghao groaned at the thought. His hungover body really craved some quality food right now.

Brushing his bangs out of his face, he made his way downstairs to raid the kitchen. But to his surprise, he heard voices from inside the room. Apparently, he wasn't the only one awake. He hesitated for a split second before he knocked and opened the door.

Jihoon looked up with an unusually scared expression on his usually stern face while raw egg was running down his fingers.

"Minghao! Oh thank god, we thought Soonyoung was coming. He hates it when we're in here," Seungcheol said with a relieved smile. He was holding several pans.

"I think he's still asleep. He drank quite a lot at the party," Minghao said, barely suppressing a yawn while he stepped into the room. "You should've come too; it was fun."

Jihoon looked like he was having war flashbacks, squishing the egg in his hand even further, while Seungcheol shot his lover a glance and hastily waved the idea away. "We don't like drinking that much."

"Oh right, I forgot about last year's incid-"

"ANYWAY. Are you here for breakfast?" Seungcheol not-so-subtly changed topic, looking anxious at the dark look that had spread over his lover's face.

"Yeah. What are you making?" Minghao asked. He couldn't quite figure out what kind of dish would include a carton of eggs, strawberry marmalade, a head of lettuce, soy sauce and a bottle of vinegar.

"Sweet-and-sour scrambled eggs." Seungcheol proudly showed him the bowl filled with an unappetizing mixture of eggs and shells. "We even plan to add some veggies."

"...I'll just have some ramyeon."

 

After the admittedly a bit dissatisfying breakfast consisting of slightly soggy instant noodles and plain rice (the two demons had ditched their eggs once the ramyeon was cooking), Jihoon and Seungcheol retreated to their room while Minghao lounged on the sofa and tried to finish a book for university. It was difficult since his thoughts kept drifting. He kept reading the same paragraphs but nothing seemed to register in his hungover brain. After about half an hour of fruitless struggle, soft steps in the hallway made him look up - just in time to see Jun entering the living room, his disgruntled expression quickly replaced by a smile after noticing his boyfriend.

"You look like you're having a major headache," Minghao remarked with a grin while scooting over to make some space for Jun to sit.

Jun kissed him on the forehead and laid down next to him. "College parties suck. Every time I go, I promise myself not to drink and then I wake up with a massive hangover. Thanks for bringing me home last night, sweetheart." They both laughed and cuddled a bit closer.

"Well, I couldn't just let you sleep on the street; you might get stolen. Want some coffee or something to eat?"

"Coffee sounds amazing."

Before Minghao could disentangle their limbs, the doorbell rang. "Huh? Did anyone order something?"

Jun shrugged. "Want me to get it?"

"Nah, I'll go. I'll get you coffee afterwards."

"You're the best, Haohao."

Minghao poked out his tongue in mock disgust. "Urgh, you know I hate that name."

Jun only grinned and shooed him towards the door.

 

Lust was still angry after last night's fight with Sloth. The party had been pretty wild and the two of them had gotten separated on the dancefloor. While searching for Sloth and not being able to reach him due to the forever empty battery of the elder's phone, he had gotten cornered by some female humans. Even though he had no recollection of ever meeting them before, the three women had insisted that they knew him from back in his more... well, outgoing days. They had trapped him against a wall despite his protests and had just started grinding on him when a fuming Sloth had arrived - making the three of them sink to the floor in a lifeless heap. Understandably enough, Lust had freaked out, thinking that they were dead, but Sloth had pulled him into a quiet room, telling him to let them sleep. A heated dispute had followed and in the end, the couple had left the party separately.

Lust ignored the presence of the other demon getting closer to his bed. If he wasn't so annoyed right now, he would be amazed by the fact that Sloth was already awake after barely seven hours of sleep, but his mind was occupied with their fight. A warm hand touched his bare shoulder and he felt the other sliding under the blanket with him. "Are you still mad, Jisoo?"

"No. Leave me alone." He buried his face deeper into the pillow.

Sloth chuckled behind him. "You totally are."

Lust abruptly sat up and turned towards the other demon, his demonic aura flaring. "Of course I am! How would you feel if you get groped by strangers only to have your boyfriend shouting at you afterwards?!" He crossed his arms in front of his chest, a deep scowl darkening his pretty features. "This sucks and you suck too!"

Sloth's smile had slid right off his face at Lust's words. Eyes downcast, he sat up as well and began to fiddle with the blanket before he mumbled, "I know. I'm sorry, Jisoo. I overreacted. You know that I'm a jealous asshole when it comes to you." He sighed and rubbed his face tiredly. "It's not your fault but you're so irresistible. And when I saw those girls, I just couldn't stop myself."

This time it was Lust's turn to smile at the other demon's rueful expression. It was rare for the usually level-headed Sloth to lose his temper and now, after hearing his apology, it almost felt a bit like a compliment. "So you admit that you're an asshole? And jealous because of me?" Lust asked with barely concealed amusement. His heart was feeling a lot less heavy by now.

"I'll admit it only for today and only to get you to forgive me," Sloth said, an irresistible smirk pulling at his lips.

Lust blushed. "I never knew that you could be this cheesy, gross." He liked it a lot.

"The things I do for my beautiful boyfriend," Sloth said with an overdramatic sigh. Lust hit his chest in embarrassment and Sloth took revenge by tickling him. But before they could tumble out of bed (or do something naughty), both demons froze when an ominous feeling washed over them.

 

Pride and Wrath had returned to their room to do what they called 'strength training'. Ever since Jisoo's revelation two years ago, the couple had decided that being human-born wasn't equal to being weak. Therefore, they had set three days a week where they would use their currently limited powers in a fight in order to train them. Which was the reason why they were currently seated across each other, eyes closed and auras focused.

They had first-hand experience with just how easily the two angel-born demons could focus their power on a single person instead of affecting everyone in the parameter and their current main goal was to learn exactly that. Admittedly, it had taken a while for them to get a hang of it (Sloth had helped them out by deepening the sleep of the other tenants at, so they wouldn't get affected by sudden fits of rage or egocentrism) but by now they had enough control to keep their powers inside their bedroom.

Pride could feel his lover's aura pressing against him. What at the beginning of their training had felt like a hot blanket getting draped over him was now more focused, like a drill trying to force its way into his head. He used his own power to shield himself, slowly pushing back - and now it was Wrath who began to sweat and shake slightly. With one last attack, Pride broke through, shattering Wrath's defense. But before the smaller demon could get seriously injured, Pride pulled back and opened his eyes.

Wrath looked angry with himself and hit the bed he was leaning on. "Why?! You always break through, god damn it! Why am I so bad at this?!" He buried his face in his hands.

Pride sat down next to him and wrapped an arm around his lover. "It's more difficult for you because of your temper. Don't be so hard on yourself, Jihoonie." He took Wrath's hands in his own and rubbed soothing circles in his palms. Wrath leaned his head against Pride's shoulder and let out a long breath. "And if it makes you feel better: your attacks definitely are the most painful out of all of us."

Wrath couldn't help but smile at that statement and Pride used his chance to pull him closer. He leaned down for a kiss, his fingers grasping Wrath's chin, but before their lips could touch, a cold, dreadful feeling settled into their stomachs.

 

Gluttony awoke in Seokmin's embrace, feeling refreshed after a good night's sleep. The soft breathing of the human against his neck brightened his mood even more and he relaxed into the body behind him.  
After a while, the rumbling of his stomach disturbed his peace. The demon carefully tried to get up without waking his boyfriend but the tightening arms around him indicated his failure.

Seokmin nuzzled into the crook of Gluttony's neck and groaned. "Why are you awake already? Go back to sleep, Soonyoungie."

"It's after 11, sleepyhead, and I'm hungry." He tried to get up again only to get pulled back once more.

"Urgh. How can you be so energetic after drinking so much?" Seokmin turned him around to take a closer look at his face, brushing away a strand of hair.

"I'm Gluttony, what do you expect?" He grinned at his boyfriend, admiring the cuteness that was grumpy Seokmin.

The other only groaned again and buried his head under the demon's chin. "Ten more minutes, then we can make breakfast together."

"Deal," Gluttony agreed happily with a wide smile and a fluttering heart. He had just begun to softly massage Seokmin's back when the sudden feeling of fear sent chills down his spine.

 

Hansol and Seungkwan had gotten absolutely wasted the night before. Even after the party, they had not been tired enough to go home, so they had spent the morning at the noraebang instead, singing along to the most terrible pop songs they could possibly find.

Groaning, Hansol rubbed his eyes in an attempt to get them to work properly so he could make out the clock. Everything was a blur in his head, he couldn't even remember how they had gotten home. In fact, he was amazed that they hadn't just passed out in a random park but instead somehow had found their way into their beds.

He froze when something moved next to him, warmth suddenly enveloping his side. Wide-eyed, he lifted the blanket - only to find his best friend and roommate of two years next to him, dressed in nothing but his underwear. He immediately let go of the blanket and looked away but his face was already a lovely shade of crimson red.

_What the hell happened?! Did we-? Have we-? Ohgodohgodohgodohgod._

Seungkwan would surely freak out if he found himself half-naked in his bed. He had always been kind of prudish around him, only changing in the bathroom or when Hansol had left the room.

...Hansol couldn't help but sneak another peek. Why would his roommate not want him to see his body? He had always assumed that the other might have some sort of skin problem that he was ashamed of but his skin looked perfect, creamy and silky smooth. 

 ~~Very inviting~~. He did not just think that.

Hot breath on his arm made Hansol tense again but Seungkwan only mumbled something in his sleep and snuggled into his side. Just when Hansol had dared to breathe again, Seungkwan suddenly shuddered in his sleep, goosebumps rising on his skin - and then his eyes snapped open and he immediately sat up, scaring the living daylights out of his roommate.

 

Wonwoo and Greed were already awake but way too lazy to actually do anything productive on this bright Sunday morning. So they did what they would always do in this case: they took a shower together and combined it with a heavy make-out session.

By the end of it, steam was filling the bathroom and they both felt significantly more awake. After wiping away the moisture on the mirror, they began their morning routine of shaving and skincare, talking and laughing about last night's party (they would never let Envy forget about dancing on a table in front of a mortified girl he had tried to impress for a bet with Hansol).

The couple got interrupted by the knocking of disgruntled Chan, who had forced his way out of his comfortable bed to go on a date with his girlfriend. They let him in to share the space in front of the mirror. Wonwoo was busy teasing Chan about his plans of going to the concert of a band he hated (for the sake of his girlfriend of course) when the mug they used to hold their toothbrushes slipped out of Greed's hand and shattered on the tiles.

The humans looked in his direction, only to find that he had turned incredibly pale, his hands shaking. The demon made a dash towards the hallway, not the least bit caring about the shards he left behind.

 

Minghao opened the front door and came face to face with a very tall and very handsome man dressed in a white suit. His jawline was sharp, as were his black, slanted eyes.

The Chinese boy bowed and smiled cheerfully. "How may I help you, Sir?"

The man in front of him smiled as well, showcasing his perfectly straight white teeth. "Good morning. I'm here to pick up my children."


	23. Chapter XVII - Final

 

Wrath and Pride were the first ones to barrel down the stairs, closely followed by Sloth and Lust. They stopped abruptly in front of the living room door, the ominous aura emitting from the room strong enough to make nausea course through their bodies. Nobody dared to say anything while they were waiting for the remaining demons to arrive.

They hadn't expected them to bring along the human tenants though.

"What are _they_ doing here?" Wrath hissed through gritted teeth, after pulling the demons aside with a very forced smile towards the remaining housemates. "It's dangerous!"

"I tried to stop them but they wouldn't listen," Gluttony whispered frantically. "What do we do?"

"Maybe Jeonghan can help?" Envy proposed and sent Sloth an inquiring stare. "Knock them out or something?" The blond demon nodded after a short, worried glance at the humans who were still watching them curiously - but before he could do anything, a voice boomed through the corridor and brought a sudden stop to the discussion.

"There is absolutely no need to be so nervous, my dear children. Why don't we have our talk in that lovely living room of yours instead of this uncomfortable hallway?"

The king of hell had opened the door they were gathered in front of, his tall figure towering over them. Dressed in white and illuminated by the sunlight flooding through the windows in the living room, Lucifer certainly lived up to his name. The demons fell to their knees at once and bowed their heads - except for Lust who was stubbornly staring at the wall, arms crossed protectively in front of him.

The humans witnessed the display of subordination in confusion. "Hyung, what's going on?" Chan whispered towards Hansol who shrugged, warily eyeing the stranger standing in the doorway. Wonwoo and Seokmin had looked just as baffled as the other humans but after a few seconds, realization began to dawn on their faces. Seokmin took a step back in fear while Wonwoo paled considerably.

"Master," Pride dared to speak up, eyes still directed at the ground, "what happened to the humans that greeted you when you arrived?" The demons around him blanched, unaware until now that the remaining two tenants were involved as well.

"Master? Humans? What-" Hansol immediately got cut off by Seokmin's hand while Wonwoo pulled Chan behind him, an anxious frown marring his features.

Satan only spared them a disinterested glance before he once again smiled down at the kneeling demons. "Oh, Minghao and Jun, right? Lovely boys, those two. They even offered me coffee," he said pleasantly and chuckled. The sound sent shivers down their spines.

Lust couldn't hold back any longer and glared at the devil, fists clenched. "What did you do to them?!" he spat.

Despite his harsh tone, Satan kept smiling while he turned his attention to the demon. It was obvious that it took Jisoo considerable effort to not back away from him. "Ah Lust, my long lost favourite. Or should I call you Jisoo? That seems to be the name you've been using for the last few decades." Lust remained silent but the devil didn't seem to mind. "I've missed you my little lamb. I was a bit disappointed after you left me but everyone makes mistakes, _right_?" Satan's smile stayed the same but his eyes held a dangerous glimmer.

The lightbulbs in the hallway suddenly exploded all at once, prompting the humans to scream and the demons to jump up and shield them from the falling shards.

The devil laughed at their fear. "Look at that. Is that compassion I'm seeing? Worry? Perhaps even _love_? Who would have thought that you would turn so soft after just two sad little years. But let's move to the living room. _All_ of you." With those words, he turned around and walked through the door. The sunlight that filled the living room seemed to waver around him.

Wrath worriedly brushed off the glass shards from Chan's stiff shoulders, thoroughly checking him for injuries, while Greed fussed over a cut on Wonwoo's cheek. Hansol looked like he had swallowed his tongue, his fingers tightly wrapped around Envy's arm, who patted his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. A shaky Seokmin leaned against an equally shaky Gluttony and was the first to actually ask any questions: "Was that _him_?"

"If by him you mean Satan, yes, that's him," Sloth replied, sighing in resignation. His fingers were tightly linked with Lust's.

Now it was Chan's turn to open his mouth. "What the hell is going on?" Jisoo still had the strength to send him a reprimanding look at his choice of words.

"We'll tell you everything later, I promise, but we really need to go. He doesn't particularly like to wait," Pride said, trying hard to sound calm and collected. "He wants all of us to come, that includes you guys. But please, whatever you do: don't anger him and don't make any deals. The devil is bound to his word by nature but he's also a master of deception."

The humans gulped but nodded.

 

Walking into the living room in pairs, Chan being flanked by Jisoo and Jeonghan, the first sight that met them was the ruler of hell sitting on their couch, playing with Minghao's hair. The Chinese couple was sitting silently by each of his sides, not showing any reaction to the arrival of the other tenants.

Seeing this, Lust clenched his fists even tighter while Sloth tried to calm him down by rubbing his back.

"Why are they like that?" Wrath asked daringly, prompting Pride to shoot him a warning glare. "....Master?" Jihoon bowed his head.

"Ah well, they were a bit reluctant about letting me inside the house at first, so I convinced them that listening to me is always a good idea."

"Is... is it permanent, Master?" Soonyoung sounded somewhat breathless.

"Why? Do you want your little friends back, Gluttony?" He asked with a friendly smile, his hand still stroking Minghao's hair as if he was a pet.

The demon bowed even deeper than before and squeaked, "Y- yes, Master."

Satan's smile turned into a dangerous smirk. "What will you give me if I return them to you?"

Jisoo stepped in front of them, breaking the line of sight between the devil and Gluttony, who had started to shake at the seemingly innocent question. "Return them back to normal and let them go in peace and I'll return to your side." Jeonghan immediately moved next to his lover and opened his mouth to intervene but Lust merely held up a hand to stop him from speaking.

"That's quite an interesting offer, Jisoo. And frankly speaking, it's quite tempting, too." Satan leaned back lazily, the corners of his mouth curling upwards. "But what stops me from just taking you by force?" For a split second, the handsome face in front of them deformed into something horrific, before it was back in place. Chan couldn't stop a whimper from escaping and pressed himself closer to Seokmin, who wrapped his arms around him even though he looked just as scared as the younger.

Jisoo seemed completely unimpressed by the display but his whitening knuckles gave him away. "If you wanted to do that, you would have done it 400 years ago already," he said monotonously.

Wrapping an arm around motionless Jun, Satan grinned at the response. "That's true. As always, my little Lust knows me best. You are a pest when you have to do something against your will, which is why I allowed you your playtime. But now this playtime ends here. Have your humans." He pushed the two boys off the sofa and they stumbled in the demons' direction, both looking disoriented but much more alert than before.

Seungcheol caught Minghao before he could fall and Seungkwan wrapped his arms around Jun, who was rubbing his head. "Are you guys okay?" Wrath asked while patting Minghao's back.

"I think so," Jun answered slowly and Minghao only nodded. "What happened?"

"Um... It's kind of a long story," Envy nervously avoided eye contact, looking at Pride instead who sent him a reassuring smile.

"Oh, but is it really?" the devil disrupted with twinkling eyes that made the demons stiffen. "Don't you think your lovely housemates have a right to know your real identities?"

Seungkwan dared to step forward now. "But Master, humans are not supposed to know-"

"My dear Envy, if I would work by that rule, I would have to punish some of you quite severely, do you want me to do that?" Seungkwan immediately shook his head and looked at the others in terror. "Good. But if you don't want to tell them, suit yourselves. We have more pressing matters to discuss anyway. Your time here is up. I know you expected to stay for a few centuries but I can't have my favourite children out of my house for too long now, can I?"

The demons looked crushed at that announcement. Greed clung to Wonwoo's arm and Gluttony stuck close to Seokmin, even Envy sent a sad glance towards Hansol.

"But Master, wasn't that too short of a punishment for our failure?" Seungcheol tried.

"It's not punishment if you're enjoying yourself. If you're unhappy about it, I'm sure I can arrange something back in hell," Satan said, a mean grin playing on his lips, and Pride quickly bowed and stepped back.

"Excuse me," Jun suddenly piped up and everyone focused on him, which made him visibly uncomfortable, "are you saying that all of you are... demons? Beings from hell?"

"Yes boy, that is absolutely correct." The devil rubbed his hands with glee and turned towards the human tenants who shrunk under his gaze. "My name is Lucifer, but I am better known as Satan. And these are my creations, the Seven Deadly Sins." He bowed his head mockingly.

"But that's impossible!" Minghao said, disbelief written all over his face. "Heaven and hell, those are just religious myths. What you're saying is insane! You're just a lunatic who broke into our house."

Satan's eyes began to glow dangerously and Jihoon immediately threw himself in front of Minghao and fell to his knees. "Forgive him, Master! He doesn't know better. Please don't punish him!"

The devil stood up and slowly walked towards the tenants, causing them to tense up even more. He stopped in front of Wrath's kneeling figure. Worry was consuming Pride and he couldn't prevent his hands from shaking - but he knew that he would only make it worse if he spoke now. "Ah Wrath, since when have you been so compassionate?" Satan purred, his long fingers tangling into Jihoon's black hair. "That's an interesting new trait you've gained here but I'm not sure if I like it. So you're saying that you will take his punishment for insulting me?"

Jihoon only nodded wordlessly, not daring to look up. Minghao tried to interfere but Sloth pulled him back.

The king of hell smirked. "Very well."

At once, Wrath fell to the floor and started to writhe. After a few seconds, he couldn't hold back his screams anymore as pain racked through his body. Cutting him. Burning him. Tearing him apart.

The shaking demons had to restrain the humans so that they wouldn't run towards Jihoon and get hurt themselves while Seungcheol kept standing next to his lover, eyes clenched shut and hands pressed over his ears in a futile attempt to block the agonized cries.

The few minutes of torture seemed to stretch for hours. When Satan finally stopped, the silence that followed was deafening. Pride slowly sank to his knees and gathered his semi-conscious lover in his arms, tears threatening to overflow at any moment.

The devil looked towards Minghao who had turned incredibly pale, wide eyes still staring at Jihoon in horror. A smile was tugging at his lips when he asked, "Do you believe me now, boy?" Minghao could only nod, tears dripping down his chin. A satisfied look crossed Satan's features before he turned back to the demons. "So, where were we before we got interrupted? Ah yes - you're coming home with me."

Seokmin cleared his throat, ignoring the tug on his arm from Soonyoung. "Sir, what would it take to make them stay longer?"

"Longer? How long are we talking?"

"A lifetime," Seokmin said with determination, still successfully ignoring the warning glares from the demons.

Satan smirked and closed in on him. "Well, what do you have to offer, little human?"

"My soul."

The other tenants stared at him in shock.

"NO!" Soonyoung screamed once his words had registered. "Lee Seokmin, are you insane?! You're not going to sell your soul to the devil; especially not while I'm standing next to you!"

"Quiet, Gluttony. Let me hear his proposal," Satan ordered with a dark look. Soonyoung opened his mouth to reply anyway but his voice wouldn't come out regardless how hard he tried. "Seokmin, you're offering your soul to me in exchange for the demons to spend one lifetime on earth?"

"Ye-"

"Wait a moment, please!" Wonwoo interrupted. "I want to join in but with a bit of modification." Mingyu immediately opened his mouth to refuse but a sharp glare from Satan stopped him.

"What do you propose, Wonwoo?"

"You can have both of us if you turn us into demons after our natural deaths," he offered calmly.

"Oh, that's even more interesting. But turning someone into a demon is hard work on my part, much harder than simply harvesting a soul. I don't think this deal is profitable for me compared to the other one."

"I'm in too if we get turned into demon's after our deaths." Minghao had wiped his tears away and was staring at Satan in determination, much to Jun's horror.

"And why would you do that, Minghao?" Satan asked sweetly.

"Jihoon protected me by sacrificing himself. I need to repay him. And all of them are my precious friends, so I want to help them out."

"What a noble reason for spending eternity in hell," the devil said with a sarcastic little nod.

Jun stepped next to his boyfriend and wrapped his arms around him "If he goes, I'll go too," he declared, looking scared but resolute.

Sloth raised his arms. "Stop that immediately, all of you! This is not a joke, you're gambling with your afterlife. That might not mean much to you right now but believe me when I say that it's a big deal."

"You won't be able to remember your human life and you will be different as a demon from how you are now. Do you really want to be damned to a life in hell for someone you won't even remember?" Lust said, his face dead serious. That turned the humans quiet again.

"But you will be there with us, right?" Wonwoo asked after a moment of contemplation.

"Maybe. If we add it in the contract," Pride replied, still holding onto Wrath whose face was slowly regaining colour.

"Will we be old and wrinkly once we're dead and in hell?" Hansol asked, his face dead serious. Seungkwan rolled his eyes at him.

Jisoo shook his head. "Your soul will stay the way you are the moment you sign the contract."

"Then count me in, eternal youth sounds good to me!" he declared with a wide grin and Envy hit his shoulder, annoyed by the foolishness of his best friend.

"After hearing all of this, are you still willing to sign the contract?" Satan asked, a wicked glimmer in his eyes. "I'm going to make you a good deal."

"I want to be included too," Chan piped up while worming his way out of Seokmin's embrace. "I don't want to be left behind."

"Chan, what are you saying?" Greed groaned in exasperation. "You're not 'left behind'; you'll go to heaven and enjoy paradise. Don't spoil your chances like this!"

"But hyung, I'm part of this group too. I don't want to be in heaven if I know that the rest of you is in hell. That would make me feel terrible."

"You know what would make you feel terrible? Going to the human realm and causing chaos, probably even killing people in the process. Being a demon is not something to take lightly," Jihoon hissed, getting up from the floor on shaking legs and with Seungcheol's support. The other demons nodded in confirmation.

"I'm still in," Wonwoo said with dedication, "but only if I can stay with Mingyu."

"Me too," Seokmin confirmed. "Soonyoung is worth it." Gluttony sent him a tiny smile and blushed a little.

"I want to go for Seungkwan," Hansol said unexpectedly, both he and Envy flushing bright red, "...since he's my best friend and stuff." Disappointment darkened Envy's face after hearing that.

"I'll sign if Minghao signs," Jun said immediately, kissing his boyfriend's cheek.

Minghao hesitated for a moment but a look at Jihoon's shaking body seemed to strengthen his resolve. "I'll sign."

Chan stepped in front now, looking just as determined as the other humans. "You're like the family I've never really had before. I basically grew up around you. How could I ever leave you in a place like this?" Mingyu couldn't help but ruffle the younger's hair while Jisoo looked like he wanted to cry at that declaration of love.

Sloth wrapped an arm around his lover's waist and turned towards the bored-looking devil. "I want to read the contract before they sign it."

 

Sloth was a very responsible and throughout demon. He read the contract multiple times, changed what felt like a myriad of things and added several conditions before he was satisfied and let the other tenants and Satan read it. The devil was somewhat annoyed at the ironclad contract but couldn't really refuse, since the idea of gaining six new demons at once was simply too tempting. The rest of the group were satisfied with the changes. Sloth had added that neither the humans' lifespan nor the demons' lifespan in the human realm was to be shortened in any unnatural way and that they were to stay together once they arrived in hell. The last clause said that they could not directly harm humans with their powers after turning into demons, a condition Wrath had insisted on.

One by one, the human tenants of number seventeen signed a contract with the devil.

 

~

 

Jihoon flinched when he heard the scream, hiding his face in the fluffy fur of Lay, one of their dogs. Lay whined and wiggled to lick his face, but the demon shushed him and tried to remain as inconspicuous as possible. Heavy steps in the hallway alarmed him and he moved even further into his corner. The door to his bedroom flew open with a _crash_ and Soonyoung stood in front of him, his face reddened in anger. "THIS IS THE THIRD TIME THIS MONTH THAT YOU'VE WRECKED MY KITCHEN!"

"I'm sorry," Jihoon squeaked and held the little dog protectively in front of his face. "I just wanted to bake a cake for my ten year anniversary with Seungcheol."

Soonyoung rubbed his temples in annoyance. "God damn it, Jihoon. I told you I'd help you later. This time you are going to explain to Mingyu why we need a new stove - _again_."

At that moment, Seokmin appeared in the doorway with a bright grin. "I love hearing your angelic voice first thing when I return home from work, my dear. What happened this time?"

Soonyoung huffed but his face had softened immediately at the sight of his husband. "Let's not talk about it. Did you eat already? What did you do today? Will Jun and Minghao be home for dinner?" Jihoon rolled his eyes but froze when Soonyoung turned towards him once again. "You better clean up the freaking mess you made or else..."

 

Seungcheol returned home only to find his very grumpy husband scrubbing the kitchen floor. He couldn't hide his amusement and leaned against the doorframe. "What happened to you, little one?"

Jihoon shot him a glare. "Human ideas of celebrating love and shit fucking suck."

"Weren't you the one who got all excited about our anniversary coming up? Especially after Hansol surprised Seungkwan with that trip to England for theirs," Seungcheol asked with a grin.

Jihoon's scowl only deepened at his words. "If you dare to use the A-word ever again, I'll rip off your dick, grill it and serve it to the dogs."

Seungcheol sat next to him and picked up some leftover debris from the stove before he leaned over and kissed his lover's temple. "Oh please, Jihoonie, you love my dick way too much to do that."

Jihoon blushed and hit him with his cleaning rag.


	24. Extra Chapter II

 

He could feel the change of weather in his bad knee. It had been particularly painful to walk the past few days, the sharp sting accompanying each step making it even harder to fulfil his daily necessities. As he settled down in his beloved armchair, he heaved a heavy sigh, rubbing his tired face with his bony hands.

"Have you eaten already?"

The sudden voice behind him made him flinch. His hearing wasn't good anymore, therefore he always got surprised by his visitors, especially since they came irregularly. He cleared his throat to make sure his voice would come out somewhat stable. "Not yet. What have you been up to lately? Seungcheol said you've been busy."

Seungkwan stepped around the armchair and into his field of vision, kneeling down in front of him with a worried frown on his face. "Nevermind that.” He waved dismissively. “But you really need to eat more, you've become so thin. It's hard to see you this way, Hannie. Maybe you should consider hiring a new maid or something? And I'll send Gluttony over more often so he can cook for you."

Based on Seungkwan's deepening frown, Hansol hadn't been very successful at hiding his amusement. He tousled Envy's soft hair to ease the tension. "And how am I going to explain the random handsome boys that appear out of thin air in my living room on a regular basis? Also, did you already forget about the last housekeeper I had? The poor thing ran away after walking in on us. And I can't blame her; you certainly don't look like you're multiple centuries old. While I pretty much look exactly my age." Hansol laughed dryly, wincing at the pain it brought to his chest.

The demon pouted at his comment and stroked his knee. "I don't care. You're beautiful to me. I've seen you age so I'm used to your wrinkles and saggy skin anyway."

"Wow, way to make me feel better. Thanks, dear," Hansol said sarcastically but he couldn't stop a warm smile from blossoming at the words of his (former) husband. "I would've never thought that I'd be the one who lives the longest, 'specially considering how often we went out to get drunk. It's really troublesome. How's Minghao doing by the way? Did he get used to hell?"

"He's fine, just a bit confused still. But Jun is taking _good care_ of him - he was really ecstatic to see Minghao back in his young body." Seungkwan snorted. "I'm pretty sure they've had sex on the day of his arrival. I actually wanted to bring him with me today but Sloth said that we should wait until he's fully adjusted to being a demon. Just as a precaution so he won't set your table on fire like Seokmin did."

"Did he change much? After what happened to Chan, I'm actually kinda worried now."

The demon changed his position to a more comfortable one, leaning against Hansol's legs, and smiled reassuringly. "Nah, he's pretty much the same. His hair is red now though and he's more cheeky than I remember him to be when he was young." Seungkwan gently grasped Hansol's bony hand and placed a kiss in his palm. "Don't worry, you'll be just fine. I'll be there to guide you."

 

-

 

Hansol opened his eyes and knew immediately that something was not the way it was supposed to be. His body felt much lighter than it should and the constant pain in his knee was gone. It was as if he was floating. Nothing seemed to touch his body, neither his bed nor its covers, not even his clothes. The darkness surrounding him was impenetrable, not even the faintest shimmer of light was visible, and for a few horrible seconds, he wondered if he had gone blind. Then he heard the rustling of clothes behind him.

Turning around, he felt incredibly relieved to find a light source slowly coming closer. Attached to that light source, which turned out to be an old-fashioned lantern lit by a candle, was a being. Hansol wasn't sure what else to call it since it looked somewhat human but neither exactly male nor female. The being was completely bald with a beautiful but deathly pale face. Not even the lips held any colour. A black blindfold was placed where the eyes should be and the frail body was clad in a white toga.

"Who are you?" Hansol asked, taking a small step back as it moved towards him. The being only smiled and motioned him to follow while turning around. He hesitated for a moment, but seeing no other option, he obeyed.

The light revealed that Hansol was indeed naked, but the body he was used to seeing, the old and wilted one, was gone. Instead, his body was youthful again, the skin wrinkle-free with a hint of strong muscles moving beneath it. Finally, it dawned to him that he was dead.

Come to think of it, the others had never told him what it was like to die since they couldn't remember anything after being transformed into demons - but right now it didn't seem too bad. Just a bit dark. Hansol tried to remember how he had died in the first place but the only thing he could recall was going to bed after a surprise visit from Mingyu and Wonwoo, who had enthusiastically talked about the hellhound they had adopted a few days prior (it didn't seem particularly well behaved based on the stories they had giddily told him but the couple was completely smitten with their new pet).

After a few minutes of silently walking through the dark and getting lost in his thoughts, two identical wooden doors became visible in the lantern light. The being stopped and waited for Hansol to stand next to it before it motioned towards the right door with a nod. Hansol warily stepped closer and reached for the door handle. It felt oddly warm and comforting in his hand – but regardless how much he tried to pry it open, the door was locked.

The being looked somewhat disappointed, based on the way the corners of its mouth had turned downwards, and pointed towards the left door. As soon as Hansol touched the handle, a shiver ran down his spine. He had to force himself not to let go immediately. The door opened effortlessly, leading to stone stairs that vanished into the darkness in front of him. The being stepped closer and handed him the lamp, patting his shoulder in a way that felt somewhat encouraging. With a quiet word of gratitude, Hansol began his descent, leaving the being behind in the neverending darkness.

 

He wasn't sure how long he had been walking. The air around him seemed to grow heavier with every step he was taking. Only a few meters separated him from the massive, lit-up gate that had become visible in the distance a while ago. Hansol warily moved closer, examining the dark wood and iron markings on it. Just when he was about to touch one of them, the gate opened and in front of him stood Satan. Even after almost 75 years, it was impossible to not immediately recognize him. His overwhelming aura alone made Hansol shudder in fright.

"Hansol! It's wonderful to see you again. It seems like the group will finally be reunited today; what a joyous occasion." Satan's smile was just as wide and terrifying as Hansol remembered it to be, so he only nodded silently in return and bowed. "Don't be shy, we'll be working together closely so we should get along. But let's get straight to the interesting part, shall we? You need some tweaking but you'll be a splendid demon; just like your little friends." The devil rubbed his hands in anticipation and casually wrapped an arm around Hansol's stiff shoulders, forcing the human to walk beside him.

He guided Hansol through the gate and down several surprisingly clean and normal looking corridors until they reached a room, ominously lit by a chandelier with black candles. It was mostly empty with dark stone walls and a tiled floor, except for something that reminded Hansol eerily of an operating table. Everything inside of him fought the overwhelming urge to run away when Satan pushed him in the direction of the table with an inviting smile.

"Lie down while I prepare myself. Don't worry, it'll only hurt a little," he said with a sadistic glint in his dark eyes before turning around.

With shaking legs, Hansol climbed on the table, the cold metal biting his exposed skin. How he wished that Seungkwan was with him - or any one of the others, he really wasn't picky right now. He had never felt so scared and alone before. "Guiding me, my ass. If he was here, I would punch him," he whispered before he closed his eyes and waited with clenched fists for the transformation to begin.

  
-

  
The light was too bright even through his closed eyelids. It seemed to dig into his brain, causing his dizzy head to hurt even more. He groaned and tried to block it with his arm but a blanket was wrapped tightly around his body, making it impossible to move. Trying to take in as much as possible, he listened, but only silence and his own heavy breathing greeted him. What was going on?

Carefully he opened his eyes, wincing at the colours and shapes assaulting his senses. He found himself in a room that was completely unfamiliar to him - but still, something seemed to nibble at the back of his mind at the sight of the pictures dotting the walls. Pictures of thirteen people in seemingly all kinds of life stages. Two people stood out though, through the sheer amount of times they appeared in the photographs. The happiness they radiated made his chest feel oddly warm. Even on the bedside table was a framed picture of the two men, both rather young looking – maybe in their thirties? - holding up their entwined hands and proudly showcasing the shimmering wedding rings on their fingers.

He slowly sat up, still looking around for clues where he was - or who he was. His mind was a jumbled mess of thoughts that made his head pound but he couldn't grasp any of them for closer inspection.

A door across the room suddenly opened and one of the men from the pictures walked in. The face of the tall, handsome stranger immediately lit up at the sight of the confused boy sitting on the bed.

"Hansol, you're awake! Wait, let me get Envy; he'll be so happy." He immediately left and closed the door behind him, leaving the dumbfounded male behind. He didn't have time to properly prepare himself since the door got pushed open only a few seconds later and a body crashed into him.

"Hannie! I'm so glad you're awake! Everyone was so worried because you slept much longer than usual. Sloth said we should be patient but I couldn't help but be nervous. I was sitting with you nearly all the time but of course, you'd wake up while I'm out to get food. That's so typical of you. And now Greed has seen you first, urgh. Anyway. How are you feeling?"

Confused by the sudden attack and the close proximity of the stranger, the poor boy couldn't do anything but stare at the body draped over him.

“Envy let him breathe; he doesn't know who you are.” Another man had appeared in the doorway, his blond hair shimmering in the light. “Hello, there. My name is Sloth but I also go by Jeonghan. This is Envy - or Seungkwan, whichever you prefer. Your name is Hansol and you are a demon, just like the rest of us.”

Envy grumbled and sat back up, shooting an annoyed glare towards the doorway. “And you said I was the one suffocating him. Couldn't you have told him a bit less directly?” He looked at his former lover, worry creasing his forehead, who had visibly paled at the introduction.

“It's like a band-aid; the faster you pull it off, the less it hurts,” Sloth said with a grin and Envy rolled his eyes. “But I'll leave the rest to you. If you think he's ready, bring him to the lounge so he can meet the rest. See you later, Hansol. It's good to have you back.” And with a genuine smile, he vanished.

Hansol stared at the now empty doorway in wonder. “Where did he go?”

“Probably to tell the others that you're okay. Come on, don't look at him. Look at me instead.”

Envy leaned towards him again, allowing Hansol to get a good look at his face for the first time. He immediately recognized one of the two men in the picture on the nightstand. His heart fluttered at the close proximity and he had to remind himself that the other was obviously married. Somehow, the thought saddened him. His musings got disrupted by Envy's voice.

“Are you really okay though? Does anything hurt?”

“My head hurts a bit but it's gotten better already.” Hansol didn't mention the weird feeling in his chest. The worry reflected in Envy's eyes seemed to lessen a little and a wide smile lit up his pretty face, intensifying the feeling in his heart tenfold.

“That's normal; it'll be gone in a few minutes.” The demon carefully touched Hansol's cheek. “Do you want to see yourself? You look amazing. I gotta admit that I missed that handsome face of yours a little in the last few years - but of course, you were still handsome in your own way! Don't take it to heart. Wait, let me get a mirror.” He immediately climbed out of bed and ran towards his dresser, rummaging around in one of the drawers. With a squeal of success, he pulled out a pocket mirror and eagerly jumped back on the bed, throwing the little object in Hansol's general direction who had to duck in order not to get hit in the head. “Your reflexes are still good, bummer,” Envy said with a grin. “I was hoping that I could finally beat you in videogames now.”

Hansol shortly wondered whether the behaviour of the other was normal or if he had taken some sort of drug, but he got distracted by the reflection in the mirror. He immediately looked towards the bedside table and the picture displayed on it – there was no mistaking it. Even though the man in the photograph looked slightly older, the hair was much less dark and (weirdly enough) the eyes were a different colour, the face was the same as the face in the mirror.

He stared at Seungkwan in shock, who was waiting for his reaction with an excited grin, and his heart seemed to burst with love that felt incredibly warm and familiar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it!  
> Thank you for reading Rise and Shine! :) If you enjoyed it, maybe check out my [other stories](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Killerguppy/pseuds/blue_deer) as well~


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